Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
GAZETTEER
HENZADA DISTRICT
VOLUME A
COMPILED BY
IN BURMA
IN INDIA
1. MESSERS. HIGGINBOTHAMS LTD., Post Box No. 311, Madras (India).
2. MESSERS. THACKER SPINK & Co. (1933) LTD., Post Box No. 54-3,
Esplanade, East Calcutta (West Bengal).
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
Physical Description.
PAGES.
CHAPTER II.
PART II.
PART III.
First Burmese War; Interval between First and Second Bur mese
Wars; Second Burmese War; Guerilla Warfare and Dacoity;
Formation of Henzada district; History from pacification of district
to present day; Mayoka rebellion 22-28
PART IV.
ACRHEOLOGY.
PAGES.
CHAPTER III.
The People.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
PAGE.
CHAPTER VII.
Means of Communication.
CHAPTER VIII.
Famine 110
CHAPTER IX.
General Administration.
PAGES.
1875 and 1889; Small Cause Court; Civil Township Judges: Chief
Court; Reorganization of subordinate courts; District Judges;
Subdivisional Judges; Present arrangement of Civil Courts; Village
Headmen; Value and nature of suits: Registration: Public Works
Depart ment.-Embankments Roads and buildings 110-138
CHAPTER X.
Revenue Administration.
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XII.
Education.
PAGE.
CHAPTER XIII.
Public Health.
CHAPTER XIV.
Minor Article.
APPENDIX I.
APPENDIX II.
APPENDIX III.
APPENDIX IV.
THE
HENZADA DISTRICT
CHAPTER I.
Physical Description.
The District of Henzada lies between latitude 17°20´ and 18°31´ north and
longitude 94°48´ and 95°47´ east, with an area of 2,870 square miles. It is
situated almost entirely on the bank of the Irrawaddy, between that river and
the long mountain range which is one of the most salient features of the
geography of Burma-called the Arakan Yomas. In the extreme south-east of
the district however it extends over a small area on the east bank of the river.
Henzada is the most northerly district of the Irrawaddy Division of Lower
Burma, lying at the head of the Delta. It is irregulady wedge like in shape, the
northern most corner being at Akauktaung, a spur of the Arakan Yomas,
touching the Irrawaddy twenty-four miles above Myanaung, while the broad
base in the south impinges on the northern edges of the Bassein and Ma-ubin
Districts. On the north it is bounded by the Prome Disrict, on the south by
Bassein and Ma-ubin, on the west throughout its whole length by he Arakan
Yomas, on the other side of which lies the district of Sandoway, while on the
east it is separated by the Irrawaddy from Tharrawaddy, excepting for that
small part on the east bank of the river already mentioned, which is contiguous
to Tharrawaddy District on the east, and Insein District on the south-east The
northern boundary between Henzada and Prome Districts leaves the Irrawaddy
at Akauktaung in latitude 18°31´ north, and follows the Thayetmyaung chaung
in a southerly direction; thence it goes nearly due south to the Tazaung gyi
spur, then westwards along that spur to the Arakan Yoma mountains, which. it
strikes in about latitude 18° 23´ north.
2 HENZADA DISTRICT
The dividing Ma-u bin southern Henzada from District leaves the district of
Insein in latitude 17°20´ north, near the village of Udo, and running first north-
west and then south-west across inundated country for about six miles, crosses
the Irrawaddy, and proceeds in a generally westerly direction along the
Aiagchaung creek, until it crosses the Henzada-Ngathainggyaung road to the
west of Mezaligon village. From this point it is the boundary between Henzada
and Bassein Districts. From here it trends west by north along the Daga river to
the Thi In, where it turns south following the Yenauk chaung for about two
miles, until it crosses the Yenauk-Zinbyungon cart road. After this it goes west
to Bokchaung village, through the middle of which it passes, and crossing the
Ngawun river follows the west bank as far as the Kyauk chaung creek. Two
miles above this it debouches along a small tributary called the Kyat chaung,
as far as the source of the latter in the Arakan Yomas.
The western boundary is formed by the Arakan Yoma range, which varies
form an altitude of two to about four thousand feet. The eastern boundary is an
arbitrary line down the Irrawaddy River framed for the sake of administrative
convenience so as to exclude or include certain large islands existing at the
present time, but always liable to shift or disappear. As at present constituted
this line excludes some large islands north of Kyangin, but includes all other
large ones as far as a point about one mile north of Thadukyaung village on the
east bank. Here the boundary stretches eastwards into Tharrawaddy District for
about four miles and then runs more or less parallel to the river at about five
miles distance from it along a line in the main artificial, but roughly dividing
the inundated lands along the river bank from the more inland kwins of
Tharrawaddy. At the east corner of the Chaung-In, this line becomes the
boundary between the districts of Insein and Henzada, and continues first west
and then south to Udo village.
District and added to Henzada in 1890), the present district of Henzada has
always formed a homogeneous unit (as is necessitated by its geographical
position), to which parts of what are now other districts were successively
added and removed. In 1853, after the annexation of the province of Pegu,
what is now Henzada District was part of the district of Sarawa (Tharrawaw),
consisting of most of the present districts of Henzada and Tharrawaddy, and
including also the major part of the present Danubyu Township of Ma-ubin
District. This was very shortly afterwards divided into two districts, Henzada
and Tharrawaddy, which were subsequently united in 1861, when the
headquarters were moved from Henzada to Myanaung, then nearly as large a
town as Henzada, and the title of the district was changed to the latter name. A
trigonometrical survey was made in 1862-63 which determined the area of the
district at 4,150 square miles. In 1870 the headquarters were retransferred to
Henzada, but the district did not apparently reassume its old official
designation until 1873-74, three years later, so that the change was probably
only a tentative one at first.
In 1873 the Thonze circle was added bringing up the area to 4,414 square
miles, and in 1875 the Danubyu Township was taken from it and added to
others to form Thongwa now Ma-ubin District. The district then consisted of
4,047 square miles. Later in 1878-79 Tharrawaddy was again made into a
separate district and the area was reduced by more than one-half to 1,948
square miles. No further change was made until 1890, when Lemyethna
Township was transferred from the district of Bassein to that of Henzada.
Since then any changes teat have been made have been due to either minor
redistributions of township boundaries on district borders, or to more exact
survey. The present area of the district is about 2,870 square miles.
eastwards from the main line of the Yomas far into the plains. Further south,
the Irrawaddy sends off a large effluent, the Ngawun, which finds a separate
outlet to the sea. Until modern times both the Ngawun, and the Irrawaddy
plains were flooded deeply in the height of the rains but the greater part of the
area included between the Ngawun and Irrawaddy, as well as the large plain
between the Irrawaddy and the Yomas, are now protected by a series of
embankments.
About half-way between the two rivers, Ngawun and Irrawaddy, lies a long
ridge of higher land on either side of the Daga river broken up by a series of
lakes and lagoons, which form the escapement for the floods. In the north of
the district the plain between the main Irrawaddy River and the Arakan Yomas
rapidly contracts, the river and the hills converging until they meet at the
extreme end of the district. Numerous smaller streams flow from the Yomas
eastwards towards the Irrawaddy. Some of these are entirely dry in the hot
season, and nearly all are marked by precipitous banks and tortuous channels.
During the rains however boats can ply on the lower reaches of their courses in
the plains.
The rainfall varies from about 90 inches in the south to under 60 inches in
the north, but is everywhere heavy enough to make rice the staple of
cultivation.
Of the total area of the district, some 2,870 square miles, 1,050 miles is
covered by forests, and probably about one-third of the remainder by the kills,
but enough fertile land remains to make the district the most productive
HENZADA DISTRICT 5
and populous for its size and in fact, both figuratively, and literally, the garden
of Lower Burma.
Mountains.
The Arakan Yomas form the western boundary, and, stretching from far
beyond the frontier of Pegu to the Bay of Bengal, have nowhere in this district
a greater elevation than in the latitude of Myanaung, where Sababontaung, the
loftiest peak, rises to a height of 4,032 feet above sea level; from this point
southwards the height rapidly diminishes. Towards the north the spurs stretch
down to the Irrawaddy, and one, just within the district, ends at Akauktaung in
a precipitous cliff, 300 feet high, its feet bathe by the river, and its face
caverned artificially to contain statues of Gaudama. Towards the south-the foot
hills, which everywhere hide the mountains from any but a distant view,
extend far into the plain of Irrawaddy, and are broken up by numerous small
cultivated valleys. The ascents of the range are steep, though not generally
rocky, and the entire surface of the tract included in the main range and its
spurs h covered with dense evergreen and bamboo forest, the summits highest
peaks being he only points destitute of tree jungle.
In the Myanaung and Kyangin Townships the height and steepness of the
main range, the numerous ranges of almost perpendicular foothills, and the
dense character of the jungle make the range impassable, and there is no means
of communication across the hills between these two townships and the
Sandowdy District. Further south the main range is not so high and is less
steep and the foothills are intersected by cultivated valleys reaching right up to
the main range. In the Lemyethna Township is the only pass by which direct
communication is possible between the Henzada and Sandoway Districts. The
pass is known as the Gwa pass. At the foot of the pass on the Henzada side is
Sindagigon village. On the Sandoway side the pass debouches to the small
town of Gwa, on the Bay of Bengal. The pass was used by part of the Burmese
army when Arakan was conquered by the Burmese in 1783. It is still used to a
moderate extent in the dry season, and a fair number of Arakanese cattle are
brought over and sold in the Lemyetlna Township.
Allantaung.
Allantaung is 3,800 feet above sea level, but there are two peaks within a
few hundred years of the camping ground, which touch 4,000 feet, on which,
as well as below Allantaung, many building sites exist. The climate is very
temperate, varying from 56 to 62 in the very early morning, to 79 to 82 at
midday in the height of the hot weather. A strong sea breeze generally blows
all day, increasing in force at night, and generally dying away at sunrise. Very
little variation exists in the climatic conditions from December to May.
Rail to Kyangin, from where a Public Works Department road, which has
now been planted up with an avenue of kokko trees, leads to Petye a distance
of
HENZADA DISTRICT 7
8 miles, where there is a District Cess Fund Rest-house. From Petye to Lema at
the foot of the hills is about 6½ miles. There is a Forest Rest-house at Lema,
and a road has been begun connecting it with Petye. From Lema a forest bridle
road has been made and kept in repair for the last four years to Allantaung, a
distance of 14 miles. This road is suitable for riding and for loaded elephants.
It is well graded and at no place very steep. At Myatya bin, 9 miles from Lema,
a camping ground has been cleared and forms a convenient halting place, from
whence Allantaung can be reached next morning before breakfast.
Rivers Irrawaddy.
The Irrawaddy traverses the district for a distance of about one hundred
miles, measured along the right bank. It varies in width from about five
hundred yards at Let an hla, below the Thanbyadaing creek, to about four
thousand yards between the Aleyun and Kyunpulu islands below Zalun. It is
broken up by numerous large shifting islands formed of the sand and soil it
brings down in the floads. As elsewhere too it is constantly excavating from
one bank, and throwing the soil in large masses into the other side, so that the
channel is winding, and seldom constant for more than one year. One of these
islands h as been formed in recent years opposite Henzada, made of soil eroded
from the river front of the town, so that the whole quarter of the town on the
river side is in imminent danger of destruction. Most of these islands at present
lie within the main channel and are inside the jurisdiction of Henzada, but from
time to time the river course alters, and the usual anomalies of jurisdiction
occur.
The river is navigable throughout its length by large steamers at all times of
the year, and as no sand banks exist at present near any important landing
places, steamers can come alongside at any season.
The whole of the right bank of the river is embanked throughout the
district, except for about ten miles where the Thanbyadaing creek and the
Bassein river creek, which connect the Irrawaddy with the Kanyin and the
Ngawun effluent, debouch. The embankment ends three miles above the town
of Kyangin. Before the construction of these embankments, the Irrawaddy
overflowed both banks in every rainy season to a width of some seven or eight
miles, as is still the case on the Tharrawaddy side, where the
8 HENZADA DISTRICT
The highest recorded rise of the river was in 1877 at Seiktha with a high
flood level of 85'28 feet. Many of the islands in the river are made use of either
for pasture or for vegetable cultivation by the inhabitants of the riverine
villages, and these islands and the shelving sandy banks of the river, which are
uncovered in the open season, are valuable for the cultivation of tobacco, in
which Henzada is pre-eminent. Most of the largest towns in the district, Zalun,
Henzada, Kanaung, Myanaung and Kyangin, lie on the bank of the Irrawaddy,
which has always been the highway of communication and the chief channel of
trade.
Pauktaing.
The only tributaries of any size which flow into the Irrawaddy proper in
this district are the Pauktaing and the Patashin. The Pauktaing or Yeye rises in
the Akauktaung spur. It has an easterly course of only ten miles, but assumes a
fair size, receiving many small tributaries in its course.
Patashin.
Mamya.
The most important of these is the Mamya, which rises in the Arakan
Yomas near Kangon in the Myinwundaung Circle, and flows east for thirty
miles. It then turns north near Hngetpyawgyin where it crosses the Henzada-
Kyangin road, and falls into the Htu lake, which used to communicate through
a series of connected lagoons and channels
HENZADA DISTRICT 9
with the Irrawaddy. The Mmmya brings down a consider able quantity of silt,
and is gradually filling up the lake.
Ngawun.
Tire Ngawun or Bassein river is the longest and perhaps the most important
effluent of the Irrawaddy, as distinguished from the several mouths into which
the latter is split up as it approaches the sea, It debouches north. of the village
of Kyun-U by an exit about three hundred yards wide, which has been choked
since 1888 by a sandbank which rises above the low water level of the
Irrawaddy. Prior to this water communication existed between Henzada and
Bassein all the year round. In the rains however large boats can cross this
obstruction, while river steamers use it for a short period at the very height of
the floods. The usual steamer channel however is the Thanbyadaing creek
north of this, which communicates with the Kanyin or Okpo river. This too is
only available in the rains. Thirteen miles below this point the Ngawun river is
joined from the west by the Kanyin river, and a short distance below this it is
augmented by the Nangathu stream, near Danbi village both of which flow
eastwards from the Arakan Yomas. In the dry weather the waters of the
Ngawun are recruited mainly from these two sources, as both its mouth proper
and the Thanbyadaing creek are dry. The average width then is about 90 yards,
while the depth varies from about three to fifteen feet. In May the snow
freshets of the Irrawaddy cause a rise of four or five feet, and in the rains the
depth over the bar reaches from ten to fifteen feet. The highest recorded rise
was 53'99 feet high flood level in 1877 at Ngawun. The Ngawun river is
erabanked on the eastern or left bank from Kyun-U to where it leaves the
district below Bokchaung for a distance of thirty-nine miles. With the
exception interval between Kyun-U and Myogwin, this embankment closely
follows the river bank. Prior to the construction of this embankment between
1869 and 1873, the Ngawun, like the Irrawaddy, flooded extensive tracts of
country annually on both banks. Since the embankment has been built, the
unprotected western side has suffered more severely than before, and is under
water in the rains for an average width of about ten miles while two large tracts
near Lemyethna and Mezali, opposite Bokchaung, are unculturable. The
Ngawun is important commercially and as a means of communication. The
important villages of Danbi, Lemyethna, Aingthabyu and Bokchaung lie along
its bank, and countless smaller ones, and are almost wholly dependent on
water-borne trade. A considerable mount of paddy is shipped by large sailing-
boats (tonkin) or towed in barges to Bassein during the rains, while during the
dry season much is conveyed in small bolts and sampans below the shallows
10 HENZADA DISTRICT
in the long elbow south of Bokchaung, and transhipped to the large sailing-
boats at Ngathainggyaung for Bassein.
Even more than is the case with the Irrawaddy the course of the Ngawun is
serpentine and winding, erosion is frequent, and the river frequently changes
its channel. A cut has been attempted in the west bank across the elbow at
Mexali opposite Bokchaung, but up to now the river has refused to be trained.
At present erosion is most serious on the eastern side at Zinbyungon, where the
land is threatened for a length of over one mile, while numerous diversions
have had to be made in the past to protect places where the embankment has
been attacked.
The largest tributaries of the Ngawun are the Kanyin and the Nangathu
streams.
Kanyin.
The Kanyin Okpo stream rises in the Arakan mountains above Tatkon and
runs in a south-easterly direction for about sixty miles through a highly
cultivated and populous part of lngabu Township. It receives the waters of the
Shwe-naing and Shin-bon streams, and communicates at Yegyaw village with
the Inyagyi and Wayanchaung system of lagoons. It flows into the Ngawun at
Myogwin two miles above the entry of the Nangathu.
Nangathu or Kwingauk.
Kyauk chaung.
A smaller tributary is the Kyaukchaung, which enters the Ngawun near the
village of that name in Lemyethna Township. It attains a fair size in the rains
when it is navigable by small launches. Boats can ply on it until about January.
Daga.
The Daga was originally, like the Ngawun, an effluent of the Irrawaddy,
but its source has been cut off by the
HENZADA DISTRICT 11
Lakes.
The largest lakes are the Nyein-E in the Apyauk Circle, the Duya and
Eikpyet, ten miles south and two miles north of Henzada respectively, and the
Htu In in Myanaung Township.
The Htu lake which lies about ten miles west of the Irrawaddy was some
thirty years egg the gest in Lower Burma. The banks are low and marshy and
show that at an earlier time it considerably exceeded even its present area of
three square miles. It communicated formerly with the Irrawaddy. Since the
erection of the Myanaung embankment it has been largely silted up owing to
the inflow of the Mamya stream, which has now no egress. It is bounded on the
north and west by two hillocks and is fed by small springs which trickle down
from these, and in the rains by the Mamya river. The average depth in the dry
weather is about three or four feet. In the centre of the lake are three small
islands. It is free from weeds. A proposal is on foot to drain the Htu lake
through the Lahadamya via Thebyu. This project, if successfully
accomplished, would render a large area available for cultivation. The fish
cries in the Htu lake are valuable and a considerable source of revenue.
Geology.
The district was visited and its geology described by Mr. Oldham of the
Geological Survey of India in 1854-55 and the following note is taken from his
account of the geological features of the district:
"Recent alluvium, that is the deposit thrown down by the waters of the
existing rivers, occupies a very small area, and follows very closely the bed of
the Ngawun and
12 HENZADA DISTRICT
the Irrawaddy, nowhere attaining a greater breadth than six miles. The older
alluvium may be divided into an upper and lower portion, the latter of irregular
development, and consisting of coarse gravels transported from a distance,
with large included masses of silicified wood derived from the neighbourhood,
whilst the former consists of a very homogeneous clay, somewhat arenaceous,
of a uniform yellowish or sometimes a reddish colour. The whole deposit has a
gentle slope to the south at a some what greater rate than the present surface of
the country.
The "Negrais" rocks, as they were styled by Mr. Theobald from their being
very charaeteristically displayed near Cape Negrais, are older than the
Nummulitic and newer than the Triassic. They too extend along the Arakan
range in this district. They are almost devoid of organic remains and have been
subjected to violent but capricious alteration. The difference in mineral
character in the Negrais rocks is very great. In some places massive and
unaltered sandstones occur, in others highly altered
HENZADA DISTRICT 13
shales and sandstones, and in some spots the sandstone is seen converted into a
cherty rock seamed with silica. The shales contain numerous beds of
limestone, at other times are jaspery, silieious or slaty. Triassic rocks also
occur.
Fauna.
The plains of the district are too highly cultivated and thickly populated to
allow game to abound, but it is plentiful throughout the mountains, foothills
and reserved forests. The Arakan Yomas in this district, owing to the dense
jungle which covers them, their remoteness, and evil reputation for malaria, are
seldom visited by sportsmen, at though they constitute on e of the best hunting
grounds in Burma. Elephant, boar, Malay bear and sambhur are numerous,
while bison, suing, and the smaller two-horned rhinoceros are found on the
hills. Hog-deer, brow-antlered deer and barking deer are common and tiger and
leopard are frequently met with. Large herds of elephants range the Yomas,
and harry the mountain kwins towards harvest time. Kheddah operations by
contractors at or near Sbwelaungcbin in the Lemyethna Township have
resulted in the capture of some 40 animals in the last two years. Rarer animals
that have been found are the serow (Nemorhoedus rubida), and the clouded
panther (Felis Diardii).
are plentiful in the hills, and the woodcock is also found in fair numbers. Good
snipe shooting can be obtained in. rice-fields and shallow swamps from the end
of August throughout the district. Duck and teal abound in the pools and
swamps alongside the Irrawaddy and Ngawun embankments or in the long
chain of lagoons further inland. A list of most of the animals and birds known
to have been met with in the District, with their Zoological and Burmese
names, wherever possible, will be found in Appendix I.
Snakes.
Climate: Temperature.
The district belongs to the wet zone, and consequently has a large rainfall,
and equable temperature. The cold season is short and mild, extending usually
from the beginning of December to the middle of February. The hot months
are not very trying, and the average maximum and minimum temperature
registered in the month of April during the last decade were 100° and 75°
respectively. The heat is greatly alleviated by strong prevailing westerly sea-
breezes, which blow from about noon until sunset. Towards the Arakan Yomas
these sometimes attain a force of some forty miles an hour, and become at once
more violent and more localised, as they apparently pass not over the main
body of the Yomas, but through the passes. Towards the end of the hot weather
these breezes last from 9 a.m. until about 4 a.m., only dropping for a short
interval towards sunrise.
The heat during the rains is only a little more temperate, as the rains are not
continuous enough to cool the air, and is more trying, owing to the amount of
moisture in the atmosphere. The maximum and minimum temperatures in the
month of July during the last ten years exhibit a variation of only twelve
degrees, from 87° to 75°.
The thermometer seldom falls below 60°. On the whole the climate of
Henzada is better than that of the rest of Delta, but even so may best be
described in the words so often repeated ill the early volumes of the Burma
Administration Reports as "damp, dull and depressing ".
Rainfall.
The rains usually begin about the end of May, but heavy showers preceding
the monsoon arc frequent. They usually cease about the end of October. They
have never been known to fail altogether, but the quality of the crops depends
on the distribution of the monsoon. The average annual rainfall for the ten
years ending 1891 was 75 inches, for the next decade 80 inches, and for the
last 89'7 inches, but this progressive increase is probably due to more accttrate
observation than any actual climatic alteration. The rainfall decreases as the
dry zone is approached but not uniformly. At Ingabu the rainfall has averaged
79 inches in the last decade, of only 10 inches less than Henzada. Kanaung on
the other hand has received an average of only 49 inches, while, further north,
Myanaung and Kyangin obtained 56 and 54 inches respectively in the same
decade. The reason for this capriciousness is not apparent. In the worst years
recorded at Kanaung, 1898 and 1899, the rainfall only amounted to 32 and 29
inches, and has never risen above 67 inches. During the same years the rainfall
at Myanaung, less than ten miles to the north, was 45 and 57 inches, and the
greatest fall recorded there was 74 inches in 1900, the same amount as that
recorded at Henzada in that year; while in 1911 Henzada received exactly
double the rainfall of Myanaung. The largest rainfall recorded at Henzada in
the last twenty years was 104 inches, in the years 1909 and 1911. In the month
of July 1912, 34 inches of rain fell-while no less than 15 inches fell in April
1908. As a rule however the rainfall is evenly distributed from May to October,
but "breaks" are frequent.
CHAPTER II.
The early history of Henzada is even more obscure than that of most Lower
Burma Districts. It is in fact
16 HENZADA DISTRICT
seldom mentioned in legend, and never in the Peguan records or the Maha
Yazawun until the time of Alaungpaya. Henzada did not in early days lie on
the main line of communication between the kingdoms of Pegu and Ava.
Through commercial route there was apparently none, and the line of march
for invading armies lay either via the Toungoo valley, and the Sittang, or more
often down the Irrawaddy as for as below Prome, and then down the Hlding
stream in those days an outlet of the main river in order to avoid the high
waves of the lower reaches of the Irrawaddy. Nor was it either in the direct
route between Arakan and Ava, or Pegu. It is a reasonable conjecture also, that
the Deltaic below the cliffs of Akauktaung uprose slowly only to the level
required for cultivation. Only in isolated high places such as Bassein and
Myaungmya were early settlements possible. It is certain that okpo* was the
only town, in what is now the Henzada District, of any prominence in early
times, and little or no records are extant concerning local history.
Legend of Ummadandi.
The first mention of the district in history is in connection with the well
known Ummadandi legend, the final scene of which is laid near Okpo town, a
place said to have been rounded in the eighth century under the Talaing name
ofKyaik-eng-ga. Ummadandi, a princess (according to some authorities Umma
was the Princess's name, and Dandi that of her brother) is claimed by Bassein
as having ruled over it about 1250 A.D. According to another ac count she was
the wife of Smmudda-gohosa, King of Bassein, who reigned about 984 A.D.
The local version runs that she was the daughter of one of the kings of the
Talaing dynasty of Tanyin (Syriare), who fell in love with her. She escaped
from him with her brother to Rangoon, and thence via Bansein, Konbyin, and
Danbi to Okpo, leaving some
After building another pagoda by the way at Payagwin, the royal refugees
finally reached Myodaung, about 15 miles to the north. Here they were
overtaken by the King of Tanyin, and a battle was fought at Tatywa. The
brother and sister lost the fight, and in accordance with the custom of the time
their heads also, in proof and revenge of which heir hats haunt the hills there to
this day.
Founding of Kyangin.
The next traditional event in Henzada history was the rounding of Kyangin
the Myom a (town) quarter of which is said to have been established by
Talaings about 1250 A.D. As much of the land near here lies on the slopes of
the Akauktaung range, and is susceptible of garden and rice cultivation, it is
probable that this was an early Talaing Colony, and that the indigenous
inhabitants, who must have been Chin if any, were driven off by them. It is a
probable conjecture too that the Chins were in too great force on the slopes of
the main Yom as, and the lands them selves too poor and distant, to make
conquest practicable or worth while, until the later tide of Burmese
immigration and conquest rendered it inevitable.
Myanaung, the former Talaing name of which was Lunse according to Phi,
or Kodut, according to other authorities (these were probably two distinct
hamlets near its site) is also said to have been rounded in the middle of the
13th century, while the origin of Henzada, "the lower-lying.
18 HENZADA DISTRICT
haunt of Brahminy geese" is variously attributed to about the same epoch, or,
more probably, later, about the earlier part of the 16th century.
General remarks.
Besides being out of the way, the greater part of the country must also have
been largely inundated every rains and quite unable to support anything but a
meagre and scattered population. It is this cause probably that has contributed
most to its historical insignificance. As far as the civil government was
concerned, the district would appear to have been ruled in Talaing times by
petty local authorities. No powerful central authority such as the "Governor, of
Myaungmya or the "Kings" of Basse, in is recorded. It was, very likely, as later
m Burmese times, an appandage of western Tharrawaddy, which was then far
less flooded than now.
PART II.
Henzada does not reappear in legend or history until the last dying struggle
of the Talaing kingdom in the 18th century. It would seem however, from the
course of events in the contest of the Talaings, that while the left bank of the
Irrawaddy from Prome to Danubyu was largely Burmanised some time before
the overthrow of the Talaing kingdom-Henzada was still a Talaing stronghold.
Henceforth such events as are recorded are definitely historical, and even the
dates may be relied on with comparative certitude. The following is briefly
summarised from Phayre's History of Burma : Alaungpaya's first incursion into
the Henzada District occurred in 1752 A.D. when he captured Lunse, but he
had to retire owing to the insurrection of the Taiaings which resulted in their
temporary occupation of Ava. Alaungpay are captured Ava in December 1753
A.D. and after a temporary set back at Tarokmyo, and an abortive
beleagurement of Ava by Talaba, pursued the retreating Peguan army
southward to Prome in May 1754. He relieved Prome in January 1755, and
marched slowly down towards Rangoon. Kyangin was taken, and two colonies
settled there, one in the quarter now known as Inlat, and one under the
leadership of one Maung Myin in Ywathit hamlet.
HENZADA DISTRICT 19
Here he sent a deputation to Mr. Brooke, the chief of the English factory of
Negrais Island founded two years previously, with a view to gaining his
assistance against the Peguans.
Founding of Kanaung.
Two years later, in August 1759, an insurrection of the Talaings broke out
in Pegu. The Burmese Governor Ne Myu Nonrata was at first surprised, and
obliged to retreat on Henzada. It is evident from this choice of line of
retirement that Henzada was fortified, and it was probable that a considerable
Burmese colony was by this time established there. That no considerable revolt
occurred is evident from the fact that Henzada is only once mentioned again in
Burmese chronicles until the first Burmese war some sixty-five years later.
Invasion of Arakan.
At the end of the 18th century Colonel Symes visited Henzada on his
journey to Ava. He found there evident signs of wealth, but little cultivation. It
is probable that some export trade in timber was done, and the town was no
doubt a convenient stage on the main river trade route. The neighbourhood of
Myanaung he described as exceedingly fertile, and exporting a considerable
quantity of rice up country.
At half past four we came to the for the night at Kroninserik (Kyaungseik)
or Convent stairs; a long sand intervened between us and the town that this
season the convex side of the winding of the river always terminates in a level
sand, Two temples, not large, but gilded on the outside from top to bottom,
made a very brilliant appearance. There were here many monasteries. Near the
river side were some fields planted with indigo; the natives
prepare it Without skill a large quantity was steeping in an old boat sunk in the
river, which was substituted in the form a vat; ..... they use it to colour a coarse
kind of cotton cloth, which is manufactured here in great by proper
management, be cultivated to the highest advantage The town of Kroninseik is
well built. The manufacture of cotton cloth is the source of its property.
the inhabitants sometimes during the rainy season, found gold dust in the sand
of the river, which is washed down by the periodical rains. It was 8 o'clock in
the evening when we stopped close to the town of Gnapeezeik. Gnapee or
Napee a sort of spart, half pickleand half putrid, has already been described as
a favourite and universal satice by the Burmans, to give a relish to their rice;
Zeik signifies a landing place, whence we concluded that this town is an
emporium for that commodity, which, in itself, forms an extensive branch of
traffic.
"Yeagain on the right and Kanounglay, or little Kanoung, on the left were
the most remarkable places; near the latter we saw several plantations of fruit
trees, the mango, plantain, jackfruit, and custard. The fields near it were
regularly laid down and well fenced, and the general aspect of things denoted
peace and plenty.
"We saw not less than 200 large boats at the different quays, which, on an
average, might be reckoned each at 60 tons burthen, all provided with food
roofs, and masted after their country manner. I was informed that the
neighbourhood of Mayahoun is commonly fruitful in rice, and that a large
quantity is exported annually to the capital. Here also were capacious granaries
belonging to the King, built of wood, and covered with thatch; these are always
kept filled with grain ready to be transported to any part of the empire in which
there happens to be a scarcity, a mis fortune that sometimes occurs to the
higher provinces, where the annual rains are neither too certain nor so copious
as in
22 HENZADA DISTRICT
the southern districts; this wise and humane institution strongly evinces the
solicitude of the monarch for the welfare of his people.
PART III.
MODERN HISTORY FROM 1824.
During the first Burmese War, no resistance was offered to the advance of
the British troops in the district as it now exists. After the fall of Danubyu on
April 1st, 1825, Sir Archibald Campbell continued his advance up the valley of
the Irrawaddy, the troops moving along the eastern(or Tharrawaddy) bank of
the river supported by the flotilla advancing up the river. At Tarokmaw in the
Tharrawaddy District, he was met by Burmese envoys who wished him to halt
and enter into negotiations, but Sir Archibald Campbell refused to entertain
their suggestions and continue his advance to Prome, which he occupied
without resistance. Owing to the fact that the British advance was made up the
eastern bank of the river the district of Henzada did not become involved in the
war.
The Henzada District appears to have taken equally little part in the events
which occurred in the interval between the first and second Burmese Wars
(1826-1852). At this period the plains must have been deeply flooded every
rainy season, and in all probability the population was confined to the foothills
and a few villages along the bank of the river. The greater part of the district
was undeveloped jungle, and it is probable that the district was considered to
be of little value and was part of the province of Tharrawaddy. At this period
the province of Tharrawaddy was an appanage of the brother of the King
Hpagyidaw, who was known as Prince Tharrawaddy.
In 1831 the King became insane, and the Government was carried on by
the Queen, her brother, and Prince Tharrawaddy. In 1837 Prince Tharrawaddy,
disgusted because the Queen and her brother became paramount and
practically ruled by themselves, withdrew from the Court to Moksobo, and
raised the standard of revolt. His rebellion
HENZADA DISTRICT 23
was successful, and he captured and imprisoned the old king and the queen and
her brother, and raised himself to the throne as King Tharrawaddy. The district
of Henzada played no direct part in these events, which all took place on the
east bank of the Irrawaddy, but Prince Tharrawaddy probably obtained men
and supplies from the district, which as has been stated, was at the time under
his control.
Next morning the main Burmese force was discovered entrenched at the
western bank of the river at Akauktaung, where the river passes through the
hills. Extensive fortifications with numerous guns, crowning the bluff and
completely commanding the western channel, were observed but the eastern
channel had been left undefended. This army was under the command of
Maung Gyi, son of the Burmese general Bandula, who was killed at Danubyu
in the first Burmese War. The fact that this principal Burmese force only
consisted of 7,000 men shows how little shows how little
24 HENZADA DISTRICT
the Burmese Government was prepared for war and how disaffected its
subjects were. Commander Tarleton, being out on a reconnoitring expedition
only, did not attempt to engage this force, but at once pushed on by the eastern
channel, and at midnight on the 9th reached Prome, which he found
undefended the governor having fled on his approach. Commander Tarleton's
force was far too small to retain Prome, and so, after staying there 24 hours and
destroying the guns found, the squadron returned down the river towards
Rangoon.
The Maha Bandula (Maung Gyi had taken the tile of his illustrious father),
on recieving the news of Commander Tarleton's occupation of Prome,
abandoned the works at Akauktaung and crossed the river with the object of
attempting to recapture Prome. The British squadron, returning down the river,
came upon the Burmese army in the act of crossing it. The Burmese were
attacked, and five guns were captured, and several wars boats and large
quantities of arms and ammunition were destroyed. A few days later the
Commander of the "Pluto" landed at Akauktaung and took possession of 28
guns which the Maha Bandula had left behind him; some were spiked and
some were brought away. The squadron then returned to Prome and found the
Maha Bandula was encamped at Rathemyo without artillery or defences of any
kind, his force reduced to 2,000 men through desertions.
opportunity to collect together and carry on a guerilla war with the British. A
force of these collected and took advantage of General Godwin's failure to
occupy Akauktaung to occupy it and rebuild the stockades; in these they
mounted five guns and seriously threatened the British communications. The
stockades were stormed and captured by Captain Loeb, R.N., but no fetes was
left in occupation, and the Burmans rapidly reassembled and on November 9,
Captain Loch had again to storm and recapture the heights. To prevent a
recurrence of this danger, a small force under Major Gardner was stationed off
Akauktaung in the "Enterprise," and directed to patrol the hills regularly.
Unfortunately, on the 19th he was surprised, his force routed, and he himself
killed. The Burmans then establish ed themselves in two positions one north of
Akauktaung, and one south of it, near Kyangin. A force was despatched from
Prome under Colonel Hands comb and Captain Loch, R.N., who attacked and
drove off the enemies from these two positions, after which Akauktaung was
permanently occupied, and no further serious disturbances occurred on the
right bank of the Irrawaddy in this neighbourhood.
Soon after this event, all regular Burmese troops were recalled to the
capital or dispersed, owing to the rebellion of Mindon Min, half brother of the
King Pagan Min. But the withdrawal of the regular Burmese troops and the
occupation of Akauktaung by no means left the district in a peaceful state.
Each Burman Thugyi bad several hundred of Police, and these men were
deprived of all occupation by the annexation of the country by the British.
Encouraged and led by men holding commissions from the Court of Ava, they
kept the whole country south of the Akauktaung hills in a state of continual
ferment. These bands of marauders plundered in every direction, but
particularly directed their attacks against those who had in
26 HENZADA DISTRICT
any way assisted the British, even by providing fire wood for the steamers.
Several small risings took place in Bassein and the southern part of the
Henzada District, but these were effectually put down by a Karen levy, raised
by Captain Fytche, civil officer in charge of Bassein, aided by a small party of
seamen. Two leaders, Nga Myat Htun in the southern part of the Henzada
District, and Gaunggyi in Tharrawaddy, gave more trouble.
Nga Myat Htun, who was the hereditary thugyi of a small circle, a man of
daring who had more than once resisted the Burmese Government, collected a
large body of marauders, and plundered over the whole of the Henzada
District, south of Henzada, and the northern part of the present Ma-ubin
District. A force was sent against him uncer Captain Hewitt, I.N., which
drovehim out of Danubyu, which he had occupied, but the returned
immediately on the withdrawal of Captain Hewitt's force, and early in 1853 he
defeated a party under Captain Loch, R.N., which had been sent out against
him, and killed its leader. Sir John Cheape then moved down from Prome
against him, and Captain Fytche brought up his Karen levy from Bassein to co-
operate. Myat Htun was caught south. of Danubyu and was completely
defeated and his force dispersed. He himself escaped, but was never more
heard of.
(formerly Captain) Fytche and were driven back, and Yegyi was re-taken. That
night Shwe Htu, who was in occupation of Ngathainggyaung, moved out and
surrounded Yegyi, but next morning he was completely defeated. In the mean
while the Myook of Lernyethna had unsuccessfully attacked the rebels in
Daunggyi, but after the defeat of Shwe Htu, Major Fytcbe marched against
them and defeated and dispersed them, making their commander prisoner.
While Henzada and Bassein were thus being cleared, Gaunggyi was being
closely pursued by Captain Brown in Tharrawaddy. Under the Burmese
Government, Gaunggyi had been Myook of Tapwun, and had refused to
furnish a contingent for the Burmese army at Prome. He declined to join the
British, and gathering a large number of followers, for two years he wandered
about the jungle, murdering and plundering, and killing, amongst others, two
Myooks who were appointed by the British Government to his former office.
Gaunggyi was more and more closely pursued and ultimately early in 1855 he
gave up, abandoned his followers, and escaped into Burmese territory.
The better to protect the country against the depredations of Myat Htun and
Gaunggyi, early in 1853 a local corps, called the "Pegu Light Infantry," about
550 strong, was mobilised and its headquarters placed at Myanaung, and a
local police corps of about the same strength was formed in Tharrawaddy. The
Pegu Light Infantry was afterwards strengthened and detachments were
stationed at various points along the Burmese frontier, to prevent undesirable
characters from crossing from Burmese territory. After the defeat of the two
great leaders, Myat Htun and Gaunggyi, and the dispersion of their gangs,
these measures and the firm, energetic, but conciliatory policy adopted by the
civil officers, relieved the whole country, and no further serious disturbances
occurred.
History from the pacification of the District in 1855 to the Present day.
Since the marauding bands were finally dispersed in 1855, although the
district has always had an unenviable reputation for serious crime, only one
even. t of any political character has taken place. This was the small rebellion
known as the "Mayoka Rebellion" which occurred in September 1912. The
remainder of the history of the district is of an administrative character only,
and is to be found in Chapters IX and X of this volume.
28 HENZADA DISTRICT
PART IV.
ARCHAEOLOGY.
It has been repeatedly stated that the district of Henzada was, owing to the
floods from the Irrawaddy river, very poor and sparsely populated under the
Tataing and Burmese Governments. It owes its present prosperity entirely to
the construction of the embankments along the Irrawaddy and its effluent the
Ngawun, and its population and wealth are of recent growth. The district has
played but little part in history, and, as it has no past to reflect, it is not
surprising that there are practically no erections of any archaeological or
architectural interest.
HENZADA DISTRICT 29
(1) The U Paye pagoda, built in 1804 A.D. byU Paye, the myothugyi of
Henzada.
King Bodawpaya, who had married his daughter the Thetpan Mibaya.
Owing to the erosion of the Irrawaddy, which endangered the old site,
now fallen into the river, the shrine was removed bodily to its present
site in 1887 A.D.
(3) The Shwe-pyaung-pyaung pagoda, built in 1817 A.D. by U Palu the U-Yin-
ok Superintendent of the Royal Gardens"). In 1846 itwas repaired and
gilded by U Myat Tha Naw, Myothugyi. The brilliance of the gilding
was responsible for its present name. This pagoda is now in
considerable danger of falling into the Irrawaddy.
(4) The Medawpaya pagoda, builtin 1812 A.D. In 1838 it was encased in a
larger outer shell by the mother of a queen of Pagan Min; to escape the
erosion of the Irrawaddy, it was moved to its present site in 1887.
PyidawbyanImage.
Pagodas of Myanaung.
The pagodas of Myanaung have but little archaeological interest, and m oat
of them were erected by Alaungpaya while he had his temporary residence at
Myanaung in the years 1755-1757. The principal are:-
(1) The Ummadandi pagoda. This pagoda is locally ascribed to the princess
Ummadandi. There is no other legend connecting Ummadandi with
Myanaung, and in all probability the pagoda is spurious and of quite
modern construction.
(7) The Paungdaw-U pagoda. Konbaung Min gave 100 viss of silver to
erect this pagoda, It was restored in 1912 at the cost of the Sagasein
Mibaya of Mindon-Min,
Pagoda at Lemyetha.
Nandala Pagoda.
The People.
The population of the district at the last census (1911) Population was 532,357.
The area of the district is 17,240 square miles, and hence the density of the
population is 186 persons per square mile. But a large portion of the district
consists of uninhabited hilly country, and the total area of the district occupied
in the year 1913-14 was, according to the figures published by the Land
Record Department, 602,324 acres. Using these figures, it is found that the
density of population for the area occupied is 566 persons per square mile. No
other district in Burma is nearly as densely populated as the Henzada District.
Except for a short period, 1854-61 Henzada was not constituted a separate
district until 1878. Save during this period from 1852-76, it was part of
adistrict which included the Whole of the present Tharrawaddy District, the
whole of the present Henzada District, except the Lemyethna Town ship, and
also the Danubyu Township of the present Ma-ubin District. In 1876 Danubyu
was made part of the then newly constituted Thongwa District, and in 1878 the
Tharrawaddy District was formed. But the Lemyethna Township was not
transferred from the Bassein to the Henzada District until 1891. Owing to these
numerous changes in the district area, it is extremely difficult to compile any
reliable data concerning the variations in population of the district as it now
exists.
The first census of British Burma was made in 1872; before this census
was made, statistics of population were obtained from thugyis' returns which
were by no means reliable. In 1855, thugyis' returns gave the population of the
Henzada and Tharrawaddy Districts, as 171,601 and in 1861 as 302,819; in
1861 the districts of Henzada and Tharra waddy were united to form the
Myanaung District and the census of 1872 gave the population of the
Myanaung District as 476,612. The area of the Myanaung District was 4,150
square miles, and the area of the Henzada District as it then existed was 2,872
square miles. Assuming that the population in 1855, 1861 and 1872 was evenly
distributed over the northern half of the Irrawaddy delta which was probably
approximately the case in 1855 and 186t, but not so accu rately the case in
1872, when most of the protective embank ment had been completed and the
rush of immigration into
HENZADA DISTRICT 33
the protected area had taken place, we obtain as a rough approximation in the
population of the present district-
At the time of the censuses of 1901 and 1911, the district comprised
practically the same area as it does now, and no alterations of the figures as
given in the census tables are necessary.
It will thus be seen that the population of the district doubled itself between
the time of the British occupation and the year 1872, while subsequent
censuses all show a steady increase of population of about 50,000 persons per
decade. The rapidity of the increase in the early years of the British occupation
(between 1855 and 1861) was undoubtedly due to the immigration consequent
on the gradual settlement of the country, whilst the construction of the
protective embankments along the Irrawaddy and Ngawun rivers, which were
all completed in the decade, 1861-72 kept up the flow of immigration during
this latter period. Colonel Spearman, in his Gazetteer of British Burma,
published in 1879, gives the following table, compiled from thugyis' returns, of
emigration from and immigration into the Myanaung District during the
decade 1867-76:--
* This number was obtained by adding the population given for Lemyethna
Township to that given for the district in 1891.
† This number is given in the Census Report of 1901 as the popu lation of the
district in 1891.
34 HENZADA DISTRICT
Difference in
Year Emigrants Immigrants favour of the district
It will be seen that immigration into the district was greatest during the five
years 1872-75 immediately after the embankments were completed.
Since this period, immigration from Upper Burma has continued, and still
continues, but it is very slow, and is practically counterbalanced by the
emigration from the district. The increase of population subsequent to this
period can be accounted for by the natural increase of the indigenous
population.
The following table *shows the number of people residing in the Henzada
District at the time of the censuses of 1901 and 1911, who were born in other
districts, and also the number of people born in the Henzada District who were
residing in other districts at the time of these censuses:--
Races.
Colonel Spearman (British Burma Gazetteer, 1879, Volume II, page 167)
gives the following table of the various rates occupying the Myanaung District
in the year 1856, which he states was the first year for which even moderately
36 HENZADA DISTRICT
reliable figures were available. The second column of the table shows the
figures obtained for the present Henzada District by correcting Colonel
Spearman's figures by the method described earlier in this chapter :-
Number of persons Figures corrected for
resident in the Myanaung the present Henzada
district in 1856 District
Burmans 80,567 58,000
Talaings 91,101 63,000
Karens 26,132 18,000
Shahs 2,927 2,000
Arakanese 11 …
Chins 1,705 1,200
Yabaing 702 …
Chinese 156 …
Hindus
Mahomedans 1,308 1,000
Others 138 …
Total 204,747 …
The following table shows the distribution of the population amongst the
principal areas inhabiting the district at the censuses of 1881, 1891, 1901, and
1911 respectively :-
1881 1891 1901 1911
Burmese 422,762 462,901
Arakanese 49 40
Chins Accurate figures 3,630 5,493
Shans unobtainable. 1,607 1,107
Karens 45,777 48,102
Talaings 1,463 1,224
Chinese 980 2,001
Hindus 719 2,781 4,298 6,600
Mahomedans 1,269 2,364 3,028 4,657
Europeans
Americans 60 105 135 164
Anglo-Indians
The only races indigenous to Burma which are now of any importance in
this district, are the Burmese, Karens and Chins.
Pyus.
Traces of the Pyus, who formed on to the three original Burmese tribes
who migrated into Burma (see Census
HENZADA DISTRICT 37
Report, 1911) such as ruins of brick dwellings and even an iron cooking
utensil *have been discovered among the foot hills of the Arakan Mountains in
the west of the Kyangin Township.
Talaings.
Burmans.
The immigrants from Upper Burma are all of the poorest class, able only to
make a small bamboo raft and float down the Irrawaddy river on it with their
families and scanty possessions. They first work up the constituents of their
raft into rough mats and baskets, which they sell, and then seek employment in
ploughing, planting and reaping of rice. A few go back to Upper Burma for the
planting season for a year or two, but most of them usually end by settling in
the district.
General Character.
The Burmese population is fairly evenly distributed over the whole district,
and at least three-quarters of the Burmans are agriculturists and village
dwellers.
The Burman of this district does not differ in any respect from the Burmans
of other districts of Lower Burma, and for a complete account of his mode of
life, habits, customs, religion, etc., reference should be made to any stand and
work on Burma, such as" The Burman, his life and notions," by
Sir George Scott ("Shway Yo"), or "Burma" by M. & B. Ferrars. Life in the
Henzada District with its fertile plains, protected from floods, and its never
failing rainfall, is a very easy matter for the Barman, and in this district the fits
of spasmodic energy which intersperse his usual lazy "do nothing" existence
are even rarer than usual. His general well being allows him, to indulge to the
full his love of feasts and shows and gaudy clothing. He is always a model of
hospitality and good fellowship ready to share his meal and talk over his own
and any other man's business with any chance comer. He displays the
uncontrollable temper so characteristic of the Burman, and is at any time liable
to break his dearest friend's head over some trifling dispute; yet he takes great
pains to prevent the accidental destruction by him of the life of any inferior
member of the animal kingdom. Should he hold any high position, he displays
much arrogance and in considerateness to those beneath him. Unlike most
oriental, he is generally truthful, but is willing to lie if he imagines that he will
thereby gain some advantage. The unsophisticated Upper Barman is said to be
unable to tell a specious false hood, but constant contact with Indians and law
courts has quite worn away this trait among the inhabitants of this district. He
is generally cheerful, has an intense passion for gambling and European boots,
and is quite unable to remain long at any regular occupation. He is, generally
speaking, a most temperate person and rarely indulges in liquor, but
unfortunately with the young town dweller, love of European boots has been
succeeded by love of European liquor.
The Upper Burman, when he arrives in this district, is far more hard
working and frugal than the indigenous Burro an. He is often content to take up
land which requires really hard labour to produce a crop, and he will work
steadily and hard with little food and no luxuries. But the ease of living, the
enervating climate, and his surroundings soon have their effect on him, and in
a few years it is impossible to distinguish him from the indigenous inhabitant.
Villages.
are small, a village of 1,000 houses being exceptional, and three or four
villages under one headman are usually found in each kwin. None of the
villages are adequately fenced, such fences as there are being quite useless to
prevent the ingress or egress of any person; but the villages are so closely
situated that the "raison detre" of fences has practically ceased to exist.
About 10 per cent of the population, a very large proportion for Burma,
live in towns and there are several large towns in the district. The towns as a
rule are well laid out, and a fair amount of attention is paid to sanitary matters;
but owing to the absence of road metal within the district, the roads in the
towns are bad. A more detailed description of the towns will be found in
Chapters XI and XIV.
The Burman insists on living above the ground, and houses are always
raised upon posts at a height varying from 18 inches to 5½ feet from the
ground. Where the floor is raised well above the ground, the cattle-byre is
usually to be found underneath the house.
In the towns many of the shops, offices and lodging houses are built of
brick, while the large proportion of the houses are built of wood and have a
tiled or corrugated iron roof.
In the villages, the houses of the poorer tenant classes are crowded together
on the village site, which is free of tax, and they usually have mat walls and a
roof thatched with "thetke" grass; the floors are often of split bamboo, but
sometimes of plank. The houses of the more wealthy land owning classes are
usually large, rambling wooden erections, and very often the roof of "thetke" is
displaced by one of corrugated iron. These better class houses are almost
always surrounded by a large garden. Brick houses are unknown in the
villages.
Clothing.
The ordinary dress of the Burman consists of a kilt (longyi) of cotton and a
jacket (eingyi) of white muslin or dark cotton cloth. A long piece of silk, called
a "gaung baung" is wound round the head. The women wear a skirt ("tamein")
very similar to the men's kilt but worn differently, a jacket ("eingyi") and a
tight fitting under bodice. Jungle women often dispense with the latter. Silk
"longyi" are always kept for entertainments, ceremonies
40 HENZADA DISTRICT
and visits to the town, while the older man often keep a kilt-and-plaid ("putso")
for ceremonial wear. Sandals are worn by both sexes. Time was when all these
garments were woven and made up at home and every house possessed its
loom. Nowadays, although a certain mount of weaving is still done in most
villages, the Burman perlets to buy his clothes of Manchester cloth in the
bazaar of the local town, and but little home made clothing is worn. Similarly,
the "longyis" and "putsoes" of Mandalay or Tavoy silk, which were worn on
special occasions, have been largely replaced by the imported Japanese silk
"longyis". Moreover, the young Burman of this district is not staisfied with the
sandals of his father, and even in jungle villages, nearly every young man
possesses a pair of European boots or shoes and socks and sock suspenders,
which he displays when he wishes to "Cut a dash". It is a curious sight to see
these young Burmans, when crossing a kwin or bad patch in the village roads,
take off their European boots and socks, wade through the mud and water bare
foot, and then replace the precious articles on their feet when they come to
good clean ground again.
Rice is the staple article of food, and of this there is never any scarcity in
any part of the district. The Burman used to be satisfied if his rice was
flavoured with a little "ngapi" and a few roots or leaves collected in the jungle,
and often the" ngapi "(a concoction of semi putrid fish pounded with oil) was
missing. Nowadays, he demands salt fish, vegetables, chickens, meat, and all
kinds of luxuries. Tinned sardines, of a very large size and very poor quality,
have become quite a staple article of diet, while most families manage to find
the money for one or two tins of biscuits after harvest.
The Burman is essentially a water drinker, and but rarely touches liquor,
although brandy and beer have be come popular in the towns. He is very found
of a cup of tea, brewed very weak, with a large addition of sweetened
condensed milk. All the richer families indulge in this luxury at least once a
day.
Every Burman, mart, woman and child smokes. Tobacco is also chewed by
the men. Most Burmans still chew betel-nut rolled up in betel-leaf on which is
spread a little lime, but the habit is gradually falling into disfavour.
HENZADA DISTRICT 41
The old Burmese habit of chewing pickled tea (letpet chauk) has quite gone
out in this district, and letpet chauk is now practically only used on ceremonial
occasions. Nearly all the tobacco smoked is a local product, although the
young town-dweller has unfortunately taken up the habit of smoking very
cheap and very bad English. cigarettes .
Religion.
Nearly all Burmans in the district are Buddhists, but the popular Buddhism
of this country bears but little relation to the Buddhism preached by Gaudama,
and really consists of a veneer of his teaching, covering a mass of superstition
and spirit worship. Every Burman be lieves in "nats" or spirits, most of which
are evil, and every village contains its "saya" who is really a spirit-doctor and
is consulted and asked to "read the oracle" before every important act in life.
Every village has one or more monastcries according to its size and the monks
keep the village school free of charge as a voluntary act of merit. Although
owing to the recent settlement of the district, there are few monuments of any
archaeological importance, pagodas (many of them gilded), "theins,"*
"tazaungs," †images and "zayats" ‡ of modern construction are profusely
scattered all over the district. There are no pagoda festivals of any importance.
"It is noted in the journal of Dr. Judson's early trips by boat up the
Irrawaddy, that h e followed the custom of going ashore below a town, and
while his boat was being towed past the town, he walked through the town
preaching as he found opportunity, and joined his boat again above the town.
In this way the Gospel was first preached at Henzada in 1820 but it was not
until the annexation of the province of Pegu that American missionaries were
stationed
"In 1853, the first American missionaries stationed at Henzada were Rev.
A. R. R. Crawley and wife from Nova Scotia for the Barman work; and Rev.
B. C. Thomas and wife from Boston for the Karen work. From the beginning,
it has been the policy of the mission to have one family working for the Karens
in the Karen language; and another working for the Burmans in the Burmese
language. Although the churches established are uniform in policy and
doctrine, on account of strong race prejudice in the early years, segregation of
the races was thought desirable and has since been adhered to, with a gradual
freer inter change of relations as the Karen has come to a better know ledge of
the Burmese language.
"Mrs. Thomas, on the other hand, was descended from ancestors that came
to America in the "Mayflower" in 1620. Thus two distinct lines of British
descent, the one Royalist, the other Puritan, went into the breeding of the first
American missionaries at Henzada, and they and their successors to the present
day have ever cherished the best ideals in Government and religion that old
England and New England had to impart.
*Governor.
HENZADA DISTRICT 43
and house to house, occupied the time of the first missionaries. School work,
both in the villages and at head quarters, followed apace. For the time both
families lived in one compound, a part of that now occupied by the Karen
Mission, which has since been enlarged by purchase. Later, a destructive fire
impressed the fact that more space should be secured for the growing missions,
and Mr. Crawley purchased and occupied the present Mission compound. The
Mission House is now about sixty years old.
"The Karens were a people prepared of the Lord by their oral traditions for
the acceptance of Christianity. They early became Christian in large numbers,
sometimes a whole village at a time. Having at first no written language, when
this want was supplied by the missionaries, they were naturally drawn to their
benefactors, and the growth of the Karen Mission has been continuous in
numbers, education, and efficiency. Early taught to bear their own burdens,
they now under missionary leadership support their own village schools and
religious worship; maintain the central school at Henzada, contribute towards
the maintenance of the Karen Theological Seminary at Insein, and send some
of their brightest young men and women to engage in aggressive missionary
work on the borders of Upper Burma, notably at Haka and Falam in the Chin
Hills and far away Kengtung among the Muhsos.
The work among the Burmans has been of slower growth. There has never
been a mass movement towards Christianity, and never a whole village that has
become Christian. The converts have been won, one at a time, as a matter of
personal work. The attitude of Buddhism is hostile, or at least indifferent.
Every new convert in a strange place may count upon receiving as much
ridicule as his neighbours know how to put upon him.
The Burmans like to go with the crowd, and so long as the crowd is not
setting towards Christianity, he is slow to give the matter serious attention. It is
easier and more comfortable to drift with the crowd in the old traditional way
of the land. The arrest of the thought comes slowly and not deeply to the
average Burman.
the Burmese Mission. The Burman work now has impor tant out stations at
Danubyu, Sagagyi, Mayoka, Zalun, Daunggyi, Taroktaw-Thamaing,
Lemyetkna, Ingabu, Myan aung, Kyangin, at four villages near the foothills of
the Arakan Yomas, * and at Danaw village in the Tharrawaddy District. This is
largely due to a preaching of the Gospel and to the persistent following up of
converts with local Village schools for the training of their children, from
which schools the most promising children are drawn to the Station School at
Henzada for such further training as they give evidence of being suited for. By
this process the mission makes use of its own product to enlarge its force of
workers and to extend its influence. The mission now has five registered
Anglo-vernacular schools, seven registered vernacular schools, with a total of
1,020 pupils under instruction, and nine churches with 439 communicants.
"The missionaries who have engaged in this work from its inception are:
Rev. A. R. R. Crawley; Rev. Mr. George and wife Rev. R. B. Hanock and
wife, Rev. John LawrencesDouglas and wife; Rev. W. H. S. Hascall and wife;
Rev. J. E. Cummings, D.D., and wife; and following ladies: Miss Parne; Mrs.
Crawley, Miss Hopkins; Miss Smith; Mrs. Case and Miss Stickney. Roy. B.C.
Case will officiate for Dr. Cummings during the latter's furlough to America in
1914-15. The American Baptist Mission Burmese school at Henzada is of
seventh standard grade with about 250 pupils. Plans are in preparation to
advance this school to full high school standing."
Karens.
Next to the Burmans, the Karens are by far the most important inhabitants
of the district. At the census of 1911, there were 48,102 Karens in the district;
in 1901 there were 45,777, and the figures deduced for 1856 show only 18,000
as rough approximation to the number of Karens in the district. The Karen
population has therefore trebled itself in 55 years.
* Mountains.
HENZADA DISTRICT 45
American Baptist Mission, writing about 1884 says: "Re garding the main
body of Karens in the Henzada and adjacent districts, I have no doubt of their
descent, within no distant date, from the Eastern Yomas into the Tharra waddy
District from which they seem to have migrated across the Irrawaddy within
two or three generations; my reason for believing this is that in touring among
the Tharrawaddy Karens some thirty years ago with preachers from the
Henzada District, I found the Karens on both sides of the river to be near
relatives, who have been then separated for so short a time as still to be able to
trace their natural relationship."
Distribution.
More than half of the total number of Karens in the district reside in the
Henzada and Zalun townships but even in these townships the Karens have
made no tract peculiarly their own, and there are very few villages which are
entirely inhabited by Karens.
that it has peculiarities, such as good garden land, which make it particularly
desirable to Karens; it may be that the pressure of Burmans, from the river on
the east, and from the line of the railway on the west, has driven them into this
tract.
General Character.
There are a certain number of Karens, off shoots of those resident in the
Henzada township, in the part of the Lemyethna township which lies on the
east side of the Ngawun river. There are practically none on the west or
unprotected side of the Ngawun. Very few Karens also are to be found in the
northernmost, Kyangin township.
It will be seen that the Karen of this district is essentially a dweller in the
plains, for none of them are to be found even within a considerable distance of
the hills. The modern Karen of the plains bears practically no resemblance to
the hill Karen from whom he has descended, and has become so Burmanised
that it is often difficult to distinguish him from a Burman at aglance, He has
adopted the Burman's food, clothing, and, if a Buddhist, most of the Burman's
manners and customs. There is scarcely a Karen in the district who does not
speak Burmese as fluently as his mother tongue. In character the Karen is
noteworthy for his truthfulness and chastity, although civilization has tended to
weaken these traits. He has none of the vivacity and light heartedness of the
Burman, but is sombre, slow of speech, and much inclined to be sulky. In
temper, likewise, he is slow to anger, but when once roused, does not easily
forgive or forget. He is much addicted to liquor, and in liquor finds that
lightness of heart which is naturally so foreign to him.
The Karen is much more thrifty than the Burman and does not waste his
money on shows and festivals in the way the Burman does. The Karen by
nature is exceedingly superstitious, and quite a large proportion of the
Buddhist Karen's income is consumed in placating the spirits (nats).
His food and clothing differ in no way from those of the Burman, and no
further remarks on the subject are required. Karen trousers are quite a thing of
the past. The "thin daing ", or long white smock, the sole garment of the Karen
unmarried woman, is very rarely seen in this district. Most Karen men and
women keep one of the short embroidered smocks of dark cloth, which form
the upper part of the
HENZADA DISTRICT 47
Their villages and houses are very similar to those of the Burmans, the
poorer houses huddled together, and the better houses standing in large
gardens. Like the Burman. the Karen insists upon living above the ground. As
a result of his thriftiness, alarger proportion of wooden houses will be found in
a Karen village than is to be seen in the ordinary Burmese village. Practically
every Christian village possesses a good school building, and a paid teacher is
usually kept.
Religion.
Of the Karens of this district, 8,421 * are Christans, while the remainder
are Buddhists. The Buddhism of the Karen differs in no way from the ordinary
Burmese Buddhism of the district, except that the leaven of superstition is even
stronger than in the case of the Burmans. They worship at the same pagodas
and images and help to support the same monks as the Burmans.
Christians.
The Karen has been tanght by his traditions to expect the coming of a
religion very similar to the Christian religion, and Karens all over the province
have shown them selves to be ready converts. There are two Christian
Missions to the Karens in this district, a French Roman Catholic Mission with
headquarters at Zaungdan in the Ingabu Township, and an American Baptist
Mission with headquarters in Henzada. Figures deduced from the census tables
of 1911 show that of the Christian Karens of this district, 4,845 are Roman
Catholics, and 3,576 are American Baptists. Accounts of the history and work
of the missions are appended, the one on the Roman Catholic Mission having
been contributed by the Very Revd. Father E. Luce, Pro-Vicar, Southern
Burma, and the one on the American Baptist Mission having been contributed
by Mrs. Morgan Phelps, wife of Revd. A. C. Phelps in charge of the Mission at
Henzada:-
* These figures have been deduced from figures given in the census tables of
1911.
48 HENZADA DISTRICT
The following year saw the number of Christians considerably and steadily
increasing. In 1876, the present brick church and residence were completed.
Later on came the two schools. The number of Christians was then some 800.
Since then it has risen to 2,495. Father Tardivel is in his 80th year quite hale
and hearty and always at the head of his dear Mission of Maryland.
* This name has definitely replaced that of Mittagon ever since the
Railway line from Henzada to Kyangin was made.
50 HENZADA DISTRICT
Catholic population attained some 1,200. Father Bringaud who remained all
along at Mittagon, had just completed the main building of the present brick
church when he died on May 7, 1904. His assistant Revd. Father A. Herzog
has ever since continued the good work of his predecessor The present
Catholic population of the Zaungdan Mission attains the imposing number of
2,500.
Danbi, 1893. Some 16 miles north of Henzada, and almost half way
between this town and the Mittagon Zaungdan Mission, Danbi is the third
station detached from the original mission of the late Father Bringaud. Aided
by Revd. Father C. Lefebvre, then assistant priest at Mittagon
HENZADA DISTRICT 51
Revd. Father E. Butard settled himself there in 1893 and the following year
erected a fine church. Illness compelled the zealous missionary to leave his
post in the hands of the late Revd. Father Ambiehl, 1896, to resume it after the
premature death of his locumtenens in 1906. Schools for either sex are likewise
prosperous. Moreover, Father Butard has opened an out-door dispensary,
where, himself an invalid, he devoted his time and money to the care of others.
Since his retirement in 1906, the Mission has passed into the hands of Rev.
Father L. Ravoire. The Catholic population is about 1,000.
most quiet and secluded locality. A church was erected with teak-wood
materials. Henzada becomes an import ant place owing to its becoming the
headquarters of the Commissioner of Irrawaddy Division."
This must have been written in 1885-86. "Another temporary station with
the chapel was opened in 1900 at Sagagyi, on the left bank of the Irrawaddy,
opposite to Danubyu. A native priest resided there for three years. The idea
was to begin a new mission which would extend from the river to the railway
line, and this chiefly in view of the number of Karen Christians having
emigrated thereto. Owing to the instability of these people the idea was
abandoned. Sagagyi reverted to the Maryland Mission, whilst the tract of
country east of same remained under the care of Thonze-Tharrawaddy
Mission."
History of the work for the Karens of Henzada by the American Baptist
Missionaries. "The work was began in 1864 by Revd. B.C. Thomas and wife.
From the beginning there was steady growth both in number and influence.
Revd. and Mrs. Thomas were transferred to Bassein in 1867, having given 13
years to work in Henzada. At that time the number of Christians was about
2,000. The work was left in the hands of Dr. D.A. St. Smith and wife who
spent eight years here. In 1871 the Karen Home Mission Society was
organized and piece collections in the churches were began. In 1873 Dr. Smith
called in his preachers and teachers to study the Bible for two or three weeks.
This was the beginning of what is now held in every field, known as the
"Pastors Classes." During Dr. Smith's time, Miss Dr. Wolf the first young lady
sent to help in the work was appointed. Then Dr. and Mrs. Smith found it
necessary to return to America and the Mission was left in charge of Mrs.
Thom as, who had returned to Burma after the death of her husband. In a short
time her son Revd. St. F. Thomas came to help her. In 1882, Mr. Thomas was
married to Miss Upham and the three carried on the work until 1884 when
Mrs. Thomas was left alone again. In 1889, after 14 years continuous work
Mrs. Thomas was compelled to rest. She turned over the work to Revd. St. J.
Price and wife. During their time the Anglo Vernacular school was organized,
and the Mission become. self-supporting. No American money has been used
in the town-school, or jungle schools since 1897. The "Thomas" Memorial
Building, in which the large Anglo-Vernacular school is held, was built by Mr.
Price in memory of Revd. B. C. Thomas and wife, the first Missionaries. After
Mr. Price's death in 1899, Revd. B. P. Cross held over the work for several
months until Revd. D.C. Gilmore and wife were sent. They spent about six
years at Henzada during which time there was a great increase in numbers. On
leaving for furlough in America in March 1905 the work was left in charge of
Mrs. J. C. Morgan with Miss A. M. Gooch, assistant. In December 1906 Mrs.
Morgan was married to Revd. A. C. Phelps and the two continued the work
together.
During the sixty years that the work has been carried on in this district there
have been a number of encouraging things worthy of note :-
HENZADA DISTRICT 55
First, Christians have grown in numbers from none to about 5,000 (five
thousand).
Second, the work is all carried on with money given by the Kerens or
granted by Government.
Third, the people are well organized into societies to carry on the work not
only among themselves but also for other races of Burma.
Fourth, the people though poor, have been trained to contribute liberally to
the support of various benevolent objects. In 1913 they contributed for all
objects over Rs. 42,000 (forty-two thousand).
In the sixty years there have been nine new missionaries and eight wives
and nine single lady-missionaries."
Chins.
According to the Census of 1901 there are 3,630 Chins in the district. In
the Census of 1911, 5,493 Chins were enumerated. The Chins are undoubtedly
a virile race in the district, and show few signs of being submerged by the
Burmans, but this very large increase is principally due to more accurate
enumeration in the hilly tracts. There is no immigration of Chins into the
district.
The Chins of this district have come into repeated contact with the
Burmans, and are to a very large extent Burmanized. Most of them are
Buddhists, speak Burmese fluently and are almost indistinguishable in
appearance from
56 HENZADA DISTRICT
ordinary Burmans. Their houses are poor, built entirely of bamboos and raised
high above the ground, usually on hill slopes The houses are usually widely
scattered, and are rarely grouped close together. The m an wear the ordinary
Burman dress, except that the kilt (longyi) is usually shorter and more scanty
and the jacket (eingyi) is often missing. The traditional dress of the women is a
black "thindaing" or smock, with embroidery round the middle, and a black
"gaungbaung "or turban, but most of the women now wear the ordinary
Burmese skirt and jacket. Further up the hills wilder Chins can be found, who
still indulge in the traditional complicated spirit-worship of their race, and are
not so completely Burmanized as the Chin of the foot hills. They have their
small patches of cultivation amongst the hills, and also practise cutch boiling.
The heart-wood of the acacia is hacked to chips, which are boiled and strained,
and the decoction is then concentrated by gently heating it in iron cauldrons.
There is a Roman Catholic Mission to Chins at Kyangin an account of which
has already been given in this chapter. Only the elderly Chin women have now
tattooging on their faces.
Chinese.
The fact that the Chinese population increased from 980 to 2,001 in the
decade 1901-1911 is striking evidence of the prosperity of the district. Most of
the Chinese dwell in towns, but a few are to be found in every large village in
the district. They are all traders, and nearly all of them are exceedingly
successful. The opium trade and practically the whole of the liquor trade are in
their hands. They are particularly addicted to the keeping of lodging-houses,
eating-houses and shops for oilman stores. The Chinaman's shop in a town is a
most wonderful thing, providing as it does almost every necessity and luxury
of both Eastern and Western existence. The Chinese marry freely with
Burmese women, the sons usually being brought up as ordinary Chinese
Animists, and the daughters as Burmese Buddhists.
Indians.
In 1856 the number of Indians in the district appears to have been about
1,000. At the subsequent censuses of 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911, the numbers
were 1,988, 5,145, 7,326 and 11,157 respectively.* The very large increases
of the Indian population in each decade are again evidence of the increasing
prosperity of the district, which makes it a favourite settling place for Indians.
In 1881 the number of Mahomedans in the district far exceeded the number of
Hindus, but in 1911 there were about one and a half times as many Hindus as
Mahomedans.* Of the Indian population, nearly 90 per cent of the Hindus, and
about 60 per cent of the Mahomedans live in the towns. A number of Madrasis
of the domestic servant class are Christians, Church of England or Roman
Catholics.
Hindus.
At least three quarters of the Hindus are coolies, the remainder are
domestic servants, money leaders and petty traders and the like. They but
rarely bring their families with them to Burma, and are attracted to Burma
merely by the high wages and profits which can be earned here. Having made a
competence, they return to their own country. Here and there in the district a
detached Hindu cultivator can be found living in a Burmese village; but he is
to all intents and purposes a Barman, wears Burmese clothes, has a Burmese
wife and speaks Burmese as fluently as his mother tongue.
Mahomedans.
Other Races.
The remaining races of the district are of little importance. The few
Arakanese are settled in the Lemyethna Township at the foot of the pass
leading into Arakan. The Shans are completely Burmanized, and above lost all
characteristics of their own. The Europeans, Anglo-Indians and Americans are
chiefly Missionaries or Government servants and their dependants.
CHAPTER IV.
Tenures.
Sir A. Phayre in his minute on the land assessment recommended for the
province of Pegu has given the following descriptions of land tenures under
Burmese rule:-
It appears highly probable that the Burmese and Talaing nations, until
converted to Buddhism nearly two thousand years ago consisted of a number
of independent but cognate tribes, settled in this valley of the Irrawaddy, and
living in a state of society very similar to that of the hill tribes now existing.
The traditions now prevailing among the Burmese people, as regards the
original right to land, evidently point back to that state of society when, being "
the first to fell with the axe" conferred a title to land so cleared. While in that
state, cultivating with a plough was probably unknown. But living as those
people were in a fertile valley, and not obliged, like the hill tribes, to change
yearly the spot cultivated, they would soon be sufficiently advanced to be able
to raise a crop from the same land for years successively. The right
acknowledged as belonging
HENZADA DISTRICT 59
But in the present day undoubtedly the right of private individuals to land
in the province of Pegu, up to the time of the British conquest, was held
subordinate to the higher rights of the king. Such appears to have been the
common law.
Numerous instances could be given where the property in land, held for
generations in the same family in some part of the province of Pegu, has been
annulled by the Burmese Government, when the land was required for State
purposes. It is probable, however, that this would not have been done so
harshly, in the original Burmese territories, peopled by the race of the reigning
dynasty, as it has been in Pegu proper. The Talaings have, in this respect,
shared the fate of all conquered races in rude and barbarous times. At the same
time, also, in some districts, land seems to have descended for generations in
the same families, and to have acquired a marketable value. Such instances are
however comparatively rare.
It is not clear how it came to be regarded as a maxim that the king was the
owner of the soil; but it may be assumed that the Burmese tribes, like most
oriental nations when they became combined under a king, submitted their
lives and property absolutely to him, and that the rights of individuals became
far m ore restricted than when they were members of rude and separate tribes.
When the tribes in the Irrawaddy valley were converted to Buddhism they
received an Indian Buddhist code, known as the laws of Manoo. In the first
book of these Laws it appears-
1st- that the kingly office was established by election among the early
inhabitants of the earth, who soon found they required a ruler as a terror to
evil-doers;
2nd- that the king was granted by the people one-tenth of the produce of
the land for his subsistence, in consideration of his services. But in the latter
books of the code, which are evidently posterior in date to those placed first, it
appears that a perfect title to land was deemed to be a grant from the king. This
no doubt was
60 HENZADA DISTRICT
the case in India, when that portion of the code was written though, at the same
time, it is also distinctly, laid down that the king has no right to interfere with.
private property but only to collect dues, which are again stated to be one-tenth
of the gross produce.
In the Buddhist code, then, the principle of the original allodial right of
property in land, though later there are same inconsistencies in the code on this
subject, seems to be folly established. But in Burma at the present day, in
popular estimation, the right of subjects to land is always subordinate to the
reservation of Government right.
Government of the country. The idea of the supreme ruler being also the
supreme landlord has not obtained here that fixity which it has in India."
Again:-
" In practice there may be said to be but one original foundation for land
tenures in Burma, namely, that the cultivated-land-clearer acquires an absolute
dominion over the soil, subject only to contribution for the service of the State.
He can alienate it by gift or sale, and, in default of his doing so, it descends to
his heirs in the usual order of succession. The title to land, therefore, is
essentially allodial. Land has always been held in fee simple, the whole right
and title being vested in the owner, i.e., the original occupies, and his heirs and
assigns. The right of private property in land has always been as fixed and
certain and as absolute as it can be in any oriental despotism, where the lives
and the property of every subject are entirely dependent on the will of a single
autocrat.
The attachment of the people to the arable portion of their landed property
has always been strong. As long as a family continue to reside in the vicinity of
their ancestral land they will never wholly relinquish their title to it. Land,
under Burman rule, was never sold in the usual acceptation of the term. It was
frequently conveyed for a price from one person to another, and though the
transaction was styled a sale, and not a mortgage, it was fully understood that
the vendor retained a right to re-purchase the land at any time he liked, and that
the emptor could not re-sell the land without the consent of the original vendor.
And yet few cases can now be found in which landed property has remained
for many generations in the same family. This result, which at first sight seems
incompatible with a strong attachment on the part of the people to the soil is,
due to the constant state of anarchy arising from wars and rebellions, and the
imperfect control which has been exercised over the provincial governors ever
since the down fall of the Pagan kingdom (1298 A.D.). The ever-recur ring
social disorders impelled the people to constant changes of residence, and one
governor, in order to increase the population of his district, would offer
rewards to encourage people to desert his neighbours', jurisdictions. This led to
62 HENZADA DISTRICT
frequent abandonments of land, which would never have taken place had
circumstances permitted the owners to continue to reside in the vicinity.
To the general allodial tenure on which lands were held there were two
insignificant exceptions. A portion of the fields in some village-tracts was
assigned for the maintenance of the village thugyi* and was known as the
"thugyi-sa" fields. The thugyi, for the time being, could cultivate these, or let
them to any one he liked.
Lands known as "bhanda" or crown lands also existed; such lands were the
private property of the crown and were cultivated either by" lamaing" (crown
predial slaves) or by the people of the vicinity without remuneration, the whole
of the proceeds belonging to the king. Under the Burma government, therefore,
there existed only the following land tenures :-
1st -Petty allodial properties; the owners cultivating their own lands or
letting them to tenants, the owner being subject to panyment of revenue
yearly, either to the State or to the custodian of any sacred buildings to
which the lands might have been dedicated.
Under British rule these last two tenures have disapperared; the occupiers
of such lands being placed on the same footing as other cultivators.
Under the Burmese customary law lapse of time per se does not appear to
have been considered sufficient to bar a claim to land. A person who had once
cleared, or had been in possession of land, could, by proving such fact,
establish his title to recover, unless the parties in possession had been for ten
years in unchallenged enjoyment of it."
* Headmen.
HENZADA DISTRICT 63
Primitive conditions.
The district of Henzada did not assume its existing boundaries till 1890, so
statistics of agriculture-are not available till teat year. There is little
information obtain able regarding the extent and nature of the cultivation under
Burmese rule or for some years after the annexation of 1853, but there is
reason to believe that the southern part of the district was chiefly waste land
flooded almost ,every
64 HENZADA DISTRICT
year so much as to prevent any crops growing. The northern half seems to have
been more extensively cultivated especially near the towns of Kyangin and
Myanaung. The impermanent nature of the early cultivation may be seen from
the number of persons working hill clearings, 2,358 in 1867-68. There was a
rapid increase in the area cultivated with rice after the annexation which may
be ascribed chiefly to the embankments which the Government built along the
Irrawaddy and Ngawun rivers but also to the removal of the prohibition, in
force under Burmese rule, to export rice. The opening of the Suez Canal in
1869 gave a farther impulse. Another incentive was the increase in value of
unhusked rice the price of which rose from Rs. 15 pe 100 eight gallon baskets
in 1850-51 to Rs. 93 in 1878. One of the great drawbacks to agriculture was
the precariousness of the rice crop owing to annual floods from the Irrawaddy
and Ngawan rivers. Another drawback was cattle disease though the district
suffered less than many of its neighbours owing perhaps to a large pro portion
of bullocks to buffaloes in its plough cattle. Thus in 1873-74 "in Henzada
whole herds of plough cattle were swept off during the year." A severe
outbreak of rinder pest took place in the south of the district in 1878-79. The
rains were usually plentiful but in 1874 there was an ex ceptionally small
rainfall measuring only 65 inches in Henzada. In 1871 floods from the
Irrawaddy caused three breaches in the embankments. On the other hand the
floods of 1875 were phenomenal but the embankments stood the strain, except
in two places where "some local injury" was caused, and saved the rice crop of
the district. In 1878 however several breaches were made in them by floods
and thousands of acres of rice damaged. Rice was the main crop. Next in
importance came gardens of mango, jack, bamboo, etc. The chief
miscellaneous crop grown in the sixties and seventies seems to have been
sesamum, Nowadays there is very little sesamum grown and tobacco has
lagely taken its place (see page 68). Indigo was also grown in the early days
after the an nexation but the demand for it, owing to the cheapness of foreign
dyed cloth, has now ceased and its cultivation has been discontinued.
HENZADA DISTRICT 65
The assessed area of the district in 1878-79 just after Tharrawaddy District
had been separated from it but before Lemyethna township had been added,
was about 238,000 acres, 204,000 of which were under rice, 13,000 under
gardens, 19,000 under miscellaneous cultivation and 2,000 under temporary
hill clearings (taungyas). There were besides about 22,400 fruit trees not
forming part of a garden. The assessed area then rose very steadily as the
following table shows till in 1889-90 it reached 369,914 acres. The addition of
Lemyethna township in the following year raised the figures to 426,393.
1878-79 237,895
1879-80 248,977
1880-81 253,643
1881-82 262,930
1882-83 270,480
1883-84 283,538
1884-85 296,335
1885-86 321,491
1886-87 350,165
1887-88 344,356
1888-89 357,429
1889-90 369,914
1890-91 426,393
The figures for subsequent years are shown in Chapter X, page 136, and in
Table XIII, Volume B. The following table shows the occupied area, matured
66 HENZADA DISTRICT
and not matured and fallowed and exempt from land revenue for the last
thirteen years:-
The table on page 68 and Table IV, Volume B, show the changes which.
have taken place in the cultivated area between 1901-02 and 1913-14. There
has been a very steady increase of cultivation and this is due to the natural
growth of population not to the opening up of large tracts of new land by
immigrants because the increase is distributed all over the district and includes
much of the most infertile land. The introduction of "tadaungbo" *rice a few
years ago has no doubt contributed to the increase in cultivated area as it can
be grown where any other crop would die. The occupied area of the district has
increased about 19 per cent between 1902 and 1914.
Waste.
The waste land of the district consists of several kinds land covered with
trees, narrow ridges along the banks of streams, shallow pools, small isolated
hills and hillocks, lands under deep water in the rains and lands just outside the
embankments.
The first kind may be covered with good trees and lie low and if so it is
very good for cultivation. A little of it still remains near the hills, for instance
at Seingyi (kwin No. 188). On the other hand if it is" indaing" that is high
sandy land covered with trees such as" in" "ingyin, "bam boo, etc., it is unfitted
for rice and grows only sesamum and pumpkins and these for one or two
seasons only.
left in the plains protected by the embankments. These ridges would yield in a
favourable year a poor crop of rice or a moderate crop of sessamum or peas.
The pools are quite unculturable but the rice fields are gradually encroaching
on them and many of them are included in holdings, he owners thinking it
worth while to pay revenue for them yearly though they give no profit in order
to establish claims to them when in the course of years they dry up, as the soil
is very rich.
The fourth is found in the west of Lemyethna township and all over the
Myanaung Subdivision except in the strip of plain running along inside the
embankment from Kyangin to Shwegyin (kwin No. 210) and in the innundated
tracts running from Shwegyin along the northern bank of the Ngawun. These
little hills are sometimes long and narrow but usually conical and rise abruptly
from the rice plains. They are often stony, always covered with small trees and
are useless for cultivating anything but a poor crop of sesamum.
The fifth is very extensive and includes large tracts in Lemyethna township
between the Ngawun river and the hills, in Zalun township along the Insein
and Tharrawaddy borders and the lowest lands of the flooded tracts in the
Myanaung Subdivision. These could be planted in parts perhaps with hot
weather rice (mayin) or with very late winter rice (kaukhnaung) or with
tadaungbo rice, but the last two are precarious crops and capital is not always
forthcoming. They are usually covered with elephant grass and small frees like
the pauk (flame of the forest).
The last kind is liable to floods and at the same time has had it is natural
drainage spoilt by the embankments while it is too high and of too bad a
quality for the growth of kaing crops such as tobacco, maize, etc. In short the
waste of the district consists of the very high or the very low lands, hardly any
of it is worth cultivating and only by the extension of the embankments could
the low lands be brought under profitable cultivation.
Drainage.
The drainage is naturally from west to east from the mountains and
foothills to the Irrawaddy in the north and to the Ngawun in the south-west. In
the south the Daga and the Natmaw systems carry the rain water southwards
through Ma-ubin and Bassein Districts. In the portion of the district which lies
east of the Irrawaddy the drainage
68 HENZADA DISTRICT
is from west to east, that is, in a direction leading away from the river because
the land slopes quickly from the bank to the interior where there is a
depression which is part of the valley of the Mykmaka in Tharrawaddy and the
Hlaing in the Insein Districts. Though the course of the tributaries of the
Irrawaddy and Ngawun is short they do not succeed in draining the country
effectually in the rainy season because after rushing down to theplains they are
met by the high ground along the banks of these rivers. Thus the Patashin
stream floods the fields near its mouth. So a narrow flooded hollow runs
southwards from near Kanaung between the railway and the Irrawaddy till it
merges into the flooded tract at the mouth of the Ngawun and a similar hollow
runs north and south between the Ngawun and the Arakan mountains. The
Daga cannot carry the surplus water quickly enough to prevent the flood ing of
considerable areas south of Pyinmagon.
The beds and banks of most of these rivers, streams and creeks are used for
growing hot weather rice, tobacco, maize, peas, etc. The embankments
interfere to a slight extent with the drainage of the country and sometimes
cause water-logg-ing as for instance in Myenu Circle, Lemyethna township.
Soils.
The soils of the district vary from rich loam to barren sand. Generally
speaking the former is found in the hollows and the latter on the high lands.
Perhaps the most fertile land of all is found in the area east of the Irrawaddy
HENZADA DISTRICT 69
which is frequently flooded from that river. Black cotton soil is found in
patches all over the lowlying parts of the district and even on the narrow
valleys among the hills. Reddish sandy soil, which is very infertile, is found in
the "indaing," *while stiff clays and hard sands are found on the high lands and
are very poor soils. Silt is found in the river-beds and to some extent in the
plains protected by the embankments where it was probably brought by floods
from the Irrawaddy and Ngawun, but the deposit has ceased since the
embankments were built. Friable clay is more fertile and easier to work than
stiff or sticky clay and dark soils are usually better than light. The clay seems
to deteriorate more quickly than the mixture of sand and clay. Some of the
most infertile land is found in places where surface water rushes off, because
the rich soil on the top is continually washed away. Generally speaking the
land of moderate elevation is the most productive.
Quite enough rain falls to mature the longest-lived rice grown in the
district, but the value of the rice crops which is the chief crop of the district,
varies greatly from year to year owing to the unequal distribution of rain
throughout the season. Prolonged drought is unknown in the district and the
rice crop never fails, but spells of dry weather at critical times in the life of the
plant often reduce the outturn considerably. The rainfall in 1914, for instance
was so untimely that the outturn fell about twenty per cent below the normal.
Drought is felt most severely in the extreme north in Myaqaung and Kyangin
townships where much of the land is high and infertile.
If there were not extensive embankments along the Irrawaddy and Ngawun
rivers a great deal, perhaps the greater part, of the agricultural land of the
district would be flooded in most years. Floods still do damage however in the
lower course of the Patashin stream, along the banks of most of the streams
issuing from the hills on the west, but most of all along the western bank of the
Ngawun, at its junction with the Irrawaddy and in that portion of the district
which lies east of the Irrawaddy.
Irrigation.
There are no large irrigation works in the district. Water is spread over the
fields in the valleys among the
foothills by the simple means of making a dam across the stream. More rarely
is a canal made. Drainage cuts to let out surplus water however are common all
over the district. In Lemyethna township both within and without the area
under supplementary survey the small streams are dammed to irrigate by little
canals the late winter rice (kaukhnaung) grown in the very low lands. The
embankments of the district are described on page 80.
In 1883-86 the Settlement Officer found the average cost of living per acre
to vary from Rs. 7'69 in Tanlebin Circle, Henzada township, to Rs. 15'99 in
Saingpyun Circle, Lemyethna township. In 1899-1901 the Revision Settlement
Officer found it to vary from 9'01 in Saingpyun Circle to 16'30 in Myanaung
Circle, Myanaung township. Again the average cost of living per acre for the
most of the Henzada Subdivision was about Rs. 11 at settlement (1883-86) and
about the same at revision (1899-1901), and the corresponding figures for
Myanaung Subdivision were 10'11 and 11'33, but the increase was due chiefly
to the higher rate at which unhusked rice was converted into money. The
average cost of living per head and per acre were found by the Revision
Settlement Officer in 1912-14 to vary from Rs. 36 to Rs. 63 per head and from
Rs. 9 to Rs. 22 per acre (cultivated and let). There has therefore been a
considerable increase of recent years.
miles at a time and never need a tent and hardly ever have to put up in a private
house. The pagodas are many and well kept and the monasteries are well built
and roomy. The Settlement Officer in 1883-86 thought the people especially
those in the Henzada Subdivision, with the exception of immigrants lately
arrived from Upper Burma, growers of miscellaneous crops and cultivators in
parts liable to floods, very prosperous, and the Revision Settlement Officer in
1899-1901 formed a similar opinion, but added that the people in the "garden
tract of Tanlebin" (near Kamauksu) were not so well off as in other tracts
where more rice was cultivated. The Revision Settlement Officer in 1912-14
remarked: "The country people of the district seem to me too to be very
prosperous. They showed no curigsity with reference to the new revenue rates
and I think that the present assessment bears very lightly upon them. There is
greater wealth among the people living in the plains than in the hills, but the
latter always seemed to me to have a very comfortable if dull life as they have
plenty of water, waste and forest land. On the other hand, they suffer much
from fever."
Indebtedness.
1889-1901 repayment was seldom made in kind and chiefly in the poorer parts
and now it is very rarely made among the cultivators though the practice is
common among labourers. It is remarkable that the rate of interest on loans
obtained by agriculturists has steadily fallen. In 1883-86 the Settlement Officer
found it to be usually 48 per cent per annum, but sometimes as much as 60 per
cent and sometimes as low as 36 per cent. In 1899-1900 the Revision
Settlement Officer found that "more than two thirds of the debtors get off at an
interest rate of Rs. 36 per cent and under" in Henzada Subdivision, and in
1900-01 in the Myanaung Subdivision it was only in the Kyangin Township
where the great majority of the debts bore an interest at a rate greater than 36
per cent. The highest interest was demanded by the Burman money lenders of
Kyangin and Petye (Kyangin Township). The Revision Settlement Officer in
1912-14 found that the modern rate of interest was only from 2 to 2'5 per cent
per month.
The money lenders of the district are chiefly of two classes Madrassi
Chetties and Burman traders and land owners. The former are found in the
towns and in one or two important villages such as Apyauk and Mezaligon and
the tatter in the towns and the larger villages. The Chinamen in the trading
centres sometimes lend money to agriculturists and occasionally they obtain a
loan from an Indian, other than a Madrassi Chetty, who has succeeded in
amassing a little capital. The dwellers in the hills hardly ever borrow from
Chetties as they are too far off and even of the dwellers in the plains the great
majority borrow their money from Burmans. The Chetties lend the largest
sums but also small ones, as small as Rs. 100, and generally speaking demand
a less interest than the Burman lenders, but the security they take is probably
better. A Chetty will hardly lend money to a cultivator unless he knows him
personally or he has land of his own. A tenant can hardly borrow money except
from a Burman money lender and the man not in possession of land in any way
can hardly obtain a loan at all and must pay high interest. Few debts are
secured by mortgage on immoveable property and hardly any by mortgage of
moveable property. The Chetties will not tend money at all to a cultivator
unless he is known to be a trustworthy man and if he has a good name they do
not insist on a mortgage of his property. They no longer lend on the security of
HENZADA DISTRICT 73
uncleared land and choose their clients more carefully than they used. They
seem now to act a useful part comparable, with that, played by local banks in
European countries.
In 1883-86 the Settlement Officer found th at small loans Were utilised for
household expenditure and large loans for the purchase of land or cattle. In
1899-1901 the Revision Settlement Officer found that most of the loans were
applied to household expenditure or the purchase of cattle. Now adays the
cultivator borrows almost entirely for household or agricultural purposes.
Government loan.
No loans have ever been made under the Land Improvement Loans Act and
none were made under the Agricultural Loans Act till 1905-05. Table VI,
Volume B, shows the advances made in that and subsequent years. The
advances were made to help the cultivators to buy cattle and seed. Repayments
have been prompt and with the exception of one of Rs. 840 in 1906-07 there
have been no suspensions. There were large advances in or just after the years
of great floods on the Irrawaddy which no doubt helped to relieve the distress
caused by the destruction of the crops. Although the interest is low (5 per cent
per annum) these loans are not yet popular as a certain amount of security is
demanded and the cultivators are afraid of the consequence of unpunctuality of
repayment.
Table IV, Volume B, shows the areas cultivated, irrigated and not irrigated
and those planted with rice, sesamum, tobacco and plantains since 1901-02
and, Table V shows the outturns of several crops from the same year
76 HENZADA DISTRICT
The chief crop is rice of which there are five principal kinds, Winter rice
(kauklat) early winter rices (kauk yin and tadaungbo), late winter rice
("kaukhanaung") and spring rice (mayin). Nearly 500,000 acres, or about five-
sixths of the occupied area of the district, is planted with rice. About26,000
acres are covered with orchards of mango, cocoanut, betel-nut, Custard apples,
etc., and about 17,000 with plantain gardens. Tobacco, beans and maize grown
in the beds of the rivers cover about 14,000, 6,700 and 2,850 acres
respectively. Much sesamum used to be grown in Henzada District and in
1867-68 it was the most extensively grown of the miscellaneous crops, but has
now made way for tobacco. The former grown both on high land and on land
annually flooded now covers only 1,300 acres and is all of the long lived kind.
The other crops are various kinds of peas and beans, chilllos, sugar canes,
ground nuts, betel-vine, Vegetables of various kinds and rubber.
Burmese rule except the more general use of their on plough (to) especially
in the Henzada Subdivision. The field is usually ploughed once wtth it and
then eight to ten times With the wooden plough or harrow (tun). Opinions
differ as to the advantage of the iron plough. Some say it turns up the soil
better; others say it is merely a labour saving device and that if the land were
ploughed with the wooden plough only but a greater number of times the result
would be as good orb otter. The wooden plough when fitted with extra teeth is
called a tunseik and is used in this district to heighten the small embankments
(kasins) between the fields.
Early winter rice (kaukyin) is planted on the high lands and ripening early
is threshed and used as food. There is no market for it. Tadaungbo is sown
after one ptoughing with the te and lightly harrowed over in the very early
rains and left to take its chance of surviving the floods. Its outturn is thus very
variable but it is cheap to grow though expensive to reap and fetches a good
price in the market as it is mixed up with the ordinary kinds of rice.
HENZADA DISTRICT 77
Late winter rice (kaukhaung) is planted late in the low lands when the
water has fallen sufficiently low, kept alive after the rains have stopped by
irrigation from the perennial streams which come down from the Arakan Hills
and reaped considerably later than ordinary rice. Mok sogyi is a variety
commonly used.
Spring or hot weather rice (mayin) is planted round the edges of slowly
drying pools and streams about the time ordinaryrice is becoming ripe and gets
no irrigation. It is reaped in the hot weather. The outturn may be extremely
good, but the quality is bad and there is no market for it so it is consumed
locally.
Orchards can scarcely be said to be cultivated. Many of them are old and
worn out, and few are being replanted with young trees. Betel-nut gardens are
an exception. These are more valuable than the others and are carefully
trenched and watered. Most of them -are found in the low lands in Myanaung
Township especially beside the Tu lake. Plantains (chiefly pigyan, nanthabu
and yakaing) are cultivated all over the district, but with special care near Neik
ban and Yonthalin in Henzada Township and Kamauksu in Lemyethna
Township.
Custard apples are found on the hill sides at Akauk taung at the northern
extremity of the district and near the Tu lake, but in the latter neighbourhood
seem to be in a neglected state. The Settlement Officer and Revision
Settlement Officer both describe these gardens and the method of cultivation
and there has been no change since their time. Tobacco has become a much
morepopular crop since settlement; but the methods of cultivation and curing it
are still more or less the same (see Chapter X, page 138). It is sun dried in the
Irrawaddy and shade dried in the Ngawun. There has been no introduction of
new seed lately. The prediction made by the Settlement Officer in 1884-85 in
paragraph 86 of his report has not been fulfilled. Sundrying has not been
discontinued and the average price is only about Rs. 24 per ten viss.
Pests.
The rice crop of the district is little troubled by insects, The podaungde eats
the young plants in the nursery and the palanbyu at a later stage and the sitpo
or ushaulrpo destroys the young ear. There are many alternative names for
these. The cultivators fear these insects
78 HENZADA DISTRICT
little and take no steps to destroy them. Near the hills wild animals such as
elephants, deer and pigs spoil the rice fields to a small extent and elephants
also attack plantain and sugar cane gardens.
Iraplements.
No new implements have been introduced into common use since the days
of Burmese rule. Those used are still very primitive, but have the advantage of
cheapness. The various kinds of implements called setton for cutting grass and
breaking clods are very seldom met with. Win nowing machines may
occasionally be seen.
Manures.
No artificial manures are used for rice or any other crops except special
crops such as betel-vine. Farmyard manure is extensively used but is often
spread in heaps on the hard ground in the hot weather so that much of it is
blown away and its quality deteriorates. A company is being formed to supply
as manure at a cheap rate the refuse of oil and rice mills which would be very
valuable. The increase of stall feeding will keep to enrich the soil. The long
stubble is left to rot and manure the fields, but very often it is accidentally
burnt. in the hot weather.
Wages of labour.
Nearly every cultivator hires men and women to help him, more in the
plains and rich parts generally and less near the hills and in the infertile or
precarious parts. Many too hire their neighbour's cattle. Wages seem generally
speaking to the higher in the southern part of the district and are nearly always
higher in a rich tract than in a poor one. Ready money too is more often paid in
the Myanaung than the Hertz ad a Subdivision. A ploughman gets for the
season from Rs. 20 to Rs. 30 ready money or from 25 to 45 baskets of
unhusked rice payable at harvest, together with his board and lodging. For
plucking 100 bundles of seedlings a man gets 2 or 3 rupees ready money or
four baskets of unhusked rice payable at harvest and sometimes his breakfast.
For planting seedlings a woman gets per day 8 to 12 annas ready money or a
basket of unhusked rice payable at harvest together with her breakfast. The
daily wage for reaping is the same as that for planting but the work is often
given out by contract for a fixed sum and sometimes, especially in Zalun
Township, one sheaf in every ten or eleven is given to the reaper as pay
without food. Sometimes a man is hired to reap and thresh as well and then his
wages approximate to those of a plough man. Wages for threshing depend on
the amount of grain
HENZADA DISTRICT 79
to be threshed the hired man gets board and lodging. For herding a lad is
usually hired and given from two to four baskets of unhusked rice per month
together with his food. Frequently a lab outer is hired for the whole agricultural
year of eight or nine months and is given 50 to 100 baskets or unhusked rice
(or an equivalent in ready money) and his board and lodging. Children are
often hired at a small wage to drive away the sparrows from the crops. These
rates hardly differ from those described by the Settlement Officer in 1885-86
in paragraph 90 of his report or from those described by the Revision
Settlement Officer in paragraph 27 of his reports for 1889-1900 and 1900-01.
The payment of wages in money has apparently always been prevalent in the
Myanaung Subdivision.
Cost of cultivation.
The Settlement Officer in 1883-86 found the cost of cultivation per acre to
vary from Rs. 5'27 to Rs. 8'5 in the extreme south, from Rs. 5'37 to Rs. 7'43 in
the centre and from Rs. 3'95 to Rs. 6'10 in the northern and poorer part of the
district. The Revision Settlement OfFicer in 1889-1901 found it to vary from
Rs. 3'64 to Rs. 10'97 in the southern and from Rs. 5 '70 to Rs. 11 '31 in the
northern half of the district. There was thus an apparent increase in cost of
cultivation, but the Revision Settlement Officer attributed this to the enhanced
rate at which grain was converted into money and to greater detail and hence
accuracy in compiling the statistics. The Revision Settlement Officer in 1912-
14 found the cost of cultivation to be about Rs. 10 per acre in
HENZADA DISTRICT 80
the poor tract north of Kyangin, Rs. 12-in the infertile tract near Kanyinnga
and Inbin and Rs. 14 in the rest of the dis trict except in the Zalun Township
and in those parts of Henzada and Lernyethna Townships protected by
embankments where it was Rs. 17.
Cattle.
The changes in the agricultural stock of the district from 1901,02 is shown
in Table IV, Volume B. There is a good deal of breeding carried on by the
cultivators especially near the hills and in other localities where waste land is
plentiful. Indians breed cattle and sell milk neat the towns. Many cattle are
imported from Upper Burma by road and river and a few are brought from
Arakan, but the latter are not so good. There used to be Government cattle
markets at Henzada, Lemyethna, Kwiagauk and other towns last century, but
they have gradually been abolished as unneces sary and the cattle dealer takes
his animals from village to village selling them as he goes; There are no cattle
fairs.
It is impossible to fix the average price of a plough bul lock or buffalo. The
price per head of the former may be as low as Rs. 25 and as high as Rs. 120;
that of the latter hardly falls below Rs. 40 and Seldom exceeds Rs. 125. A yoke
of bullocks for the ploughing season is hired for 30, 40, 50 or 60 baskets of
unhusked rice payable at harvest, but usually at 40 baskets and a yoke of
buffaloes usually for 50 or 60 baskets. Cattle are very Seldom hired for money
orgrain for threshing; if so, the fee is about five baskets a head for the
threshing season. A cultivator sometimes gets the loan of cattle for threshing
free by looking after them in the rains after the ploughing season is over.
There are no peculiar Cattle diseases in the district and the common kinds,
antthrax, rinderpest, foot and mouth disease, etc., have not caused any great
mortality of late
HENZADA DISTRICT 81
years except in the years 1890-91 when 5,004 head died of rinder pest atone, in
1891-92 in 1895-96 When many cattle died of rinder pest, in 1901-02 when
tinderpest and anthrax were prevalent in parts of the district and in 1904-05
when there was a very severe outbreak of tinderpest.
Plough bullocks are stall fed with straw and cut grass when the crops are
on the ground, but at other times are set free to graze among the stubble and in
the grazing ground. The cows and calves and the buffaloes are left to fend for
themselves in the grazing ground and waste lands of the village. Very
occasionally are cattle sent to other localities, e.g., the islands of the Irrawaddy,
to be herded. Sesamum refuse costing usually Rs. 1-8-0 per 10 viss and, less
commonly, rice bran at about eight annas a basket, are often given to plough
cattle when they are working hard as in the ploughing and carting seasons.
As a rule estates are small near the hills and large in the plains. Several of
the landlords of Kyangin, Petye and Myanaung have very large estates in
which they do not reside. The separate holdings too are as a rule smaller near
the hills, but near these towns they are excessively small owing perhaps to
continual partition on inheritance. There are practically only two forms of
tenancy in the district fixed cash and fixed produce. Partnership (metayer) and
share produce tenancies are hardly ever met with. Nearly all are fixed produce
tenancies. Even in Henzada and Zalun Townships where the Revision
Settlement Officer noticed "an increasing favour for money rents" (paragraph
45 of his Report for 1899-1900) very few such tenancies are now met with.
The vast majority of rents are paid in unhusked rice at harvest, a certain
number of baskets being agreed on as the rent in the beginning of the season
usually in April or May. Very occasion ally the rent for a term of years is paid
in a lump sum of money at the beginning of the tenancy.
tenant class in Henzada District was prosperous enough and did not expect it to
increase. The Revision Settlement Officer in 1899-1900 though noticing in the
southern half of the district some cases of rack renting and" a desire of the
tenants to have the legislative protection of Government" (paragraph 43 of his
report) considered the tenant class to be independent and prosperous in spite of
high rents. In 1900-01 he found the "economic condition of the tenant family"
was "practically the same as that of the land owning class" and formed the
opinion that" the condition of tenants over the tract 'needed' no cause of
anxiety."
Rents.
Colonel Spearman writing about the year 1879 says* that the average rent
at that date was only about Rs. 1 '50 per acre, but this figure was rapidly
exceeded. Thus the Settlement Officer in 1884-85 in dealing with an area
which was chiefly composed of the present Henzada Subdivision found that 31
per cent of the rice cultivators were tenants and 24 per cent of the land
cultivated with rice was rented by them, the average rented holding was 8'73
acres and the average rent per acre (including revenue, which the tenant in
those days usually paid in whole or in part) was equivalent to Rs. 4'62, and that
more than half the tenants
had not been in occupation of their lands before the year of inquiry. In 1885-86
in dealing with an area which comprised most of the present Myanaung
Subdivision h e found the corresponding figures to be 28 per cent 20 per cent,
5'73 acres and Rs. 4'94, while only 1,360 tenants out of 3,541 had not been in
occupation of their tenancies before the year of inquiry. The Revision
Settlement Officer in 1899-1901 found the area rented in Henzada Subdivision
to be 31 per cent of the whole cultivated area, the average tenant holding to
cover 15'98 acres and the average rent to be equivalent to Rs. 8'31. In 1900-01
he found the corresponding figures for the greater part of Myanaung
Subdivision to be 19 per cent, 6'82 acres and Rs. 7'15. There was thus an
increase between settlement and revision, both in the proportion of land rented
and in the rental value and the increase in the latter cannot be wholly
accounted for by the difference in the rate of conversion of grain into money.
In 1912-14 the Revision Settlement Officer found that about 38 per cent of
the rice land of the district was let and that the average rent varied from Rs. 7
in the flooded part of Apyauk Circle and Rs. 8 in the hills of Lemyethna Town
ship to Rs. 21 near Apyauk Town itself and in the rich embankment protected
part of Zalun Township. The increases have therefore been maintained.
Even in 1884-86 the Settlement Officer found the rents to be mostly fixed
produce rents and to be high, a change he remarked from the old share produce
tenancies of Burmese custom in which a tenth of the actual crop together with
the land revenue was paid. The Settlement Officer summarised the tenancies of
the district in paragraph 45 of his report for 1899-1900 as follows :-
(1) General absence of the tithe principle of rent, except in the poorest
land or among relations (I only remember to have met it in the poorer parts of
Apyauk and Tanlebin circles),
This description still holds good. The landlord usually comes and removes
the grain, which is hisrent at his own expense, but the tenant has often to take it
at his own expense to the non-resident landlord and sometimes even sells it for
him.
Sales.
Mortagages.
The Settlement Officer in 1884-85 found that most sales were due to
indebtedness and remarked "Many cultivators have of late made over their land
to money lenders in satisfaction of debts. It is usual for land to be mortgaged
with a condition that if not redeemed in a certain time, often only two or three
years, it is to belong to the mortgagee. At the end of the stated period the
cultivator as a rule surrenders his land, unless he can then redeem it."
"The money lender often sells the land again to other cultivators, but some
of them retain the lands in their own hands."
Prices.
The price of unhusked rice is a very important one for the cultivator in the
district for on it largely depend the profits of his agriculture. In 1868 the local
price in the southern part of Henzada District varied from about Rs. 45 to Rs.
79 per 100 eight-gallon baskets and in 1879 it had risen to about 93, that is,
about 105 per 100 nine-gallon or standard baskets. In 1883-86 the Settlement
Officer assumed local prices varying roughly from about Rs. 56 to Rs. 68 per
100 standard baskets; in 1899-1901 the Revision Settlement Officer assumed
local prices varying from Rs. 71 to Rs. 82 per 100 standard baskets; and the
Revision Settlement Officer in 1912-14 assumed local prices varying from Its.
86 to Rs. 96 per 100 standard baskets ; these local prices were
86 HENZADA DISTRICT
Rangoon. Bassein.
1895 95 90
1896 88 85
1897 105 96
1898 92 82
1899 94 88
1900 92 87
1901 86 81
1902 81 82
1903 102 92
1904 89 88
1905 90 100
1906 102 97
1907 118 110
1908 131 136
1909 101 105
1910 95 93
1911 201 119
1912 150 150
1913 130 135
1914 121 128
shows both its fluctuations and its increase in the last decade. It remains to be
seen how the great European war of 1914 will affect it. Local prices of other
commodities are given in the Revenue Administration Reports in the eighties,
but the information is hardly enough to enable one to trace the changes since
then.
Embankments.
The question of embankments is an all important one for the district and it
is their construction which has enabled Government to raise the large land
revenue it does.
of the Patashin creek. The drainage water from the hills in the interior breached
the lower end of the embankment and the last 3 miles were abandoned a new
length half a mile long being constructed fro the 6th mile adequately to protect
the remainder of the land. The embankment has cost Rs. 1,55,064 and protects
2,650 acres of land. The net revenue obtained up to the end of 1911-12 has
been Rs. 16,298.
During the same period work was being carried out on the Myanaung and
Henzada embankments. It was originally the intention to construct a
continuous length of embankment from the high ground on the right bank of
the Patashin chaung * above Myanaung down to Pantsnow in the Thongwa
District. The embankment would have closed the off take of the Ngawun or
Bassein river, but the rapid westward movement of a great horseshoe bend
some 17 miles long near Thambyadaing resulted in the land on which it was
proposed to construct the embankment being cut away and also in a new
entrance into the Ngawun river opening past Thambyadaing. This off take
increased so rapidly that it was deemed advisable to leave it open and the
northern section of embankment now known as the Myanaung section ended at
Ludawza at 44¼ miles from its commencement. The embankment was
constructed during the following years:-
0 to 7 ½ miles ...................................................1863-64
7 ½ to 10 ½ miles..............................................1864-65
10 ½ to 44 ½ miles............................................1868-69
It has cost Rs. 11,02,287 up to date and protects about 69,000 acres of land.
The net revenue obtained from this work up to the end of the year 1911-12 was
Rs. 30,75,099. Since its completion the river made further inroads and cut
away the last few miles of the embankment. A retired line commencing at 35
and terminating at mile 39 some distance behind the original embankment was
constructed and the original length down to Ludawzu was abandoned. The
embankment is now being continued for 11 miles beyond the 39th mile down
to Naukmi and it is anticipated that a further area amounting to 5,000 acres will
be reclaimed and brought under cultivation.
* Stream.
HENZADA DISTRICT 89
As a result of the decision to leave the off take of the Ngawun river open, it
was found necessary for the complete protection of the Henzada Island to
construct an embankment along the Irrawaddy river. Work was commenced on
the Irrawaddy branch from 0 to 12½ miles during the years 1867-69 and linked
up with the Anaukpet embankment already mentioned. The work was extended
to mile 26 in 1872-73 and was carried beyond the Henzada District boundary
at mile 41 during the years 1874-77. A length of 64 miles of the Ngawan
branch was constructed in 1869-70 and the work was continued down to 25½
miles opposite to Lemyethna in 1871-72. The district boundary at mile 39 was
reached in the following year. The total length of the Henzada embankment,
which protects land both in the Henzada, Thongwa and Bassein Districts, is
150 miles. It has cost Rs. 23,98,732 up to date and protects an area of 340,000
acres. The net revenue up to the end of the year 1911-12 amounted to Rs.
1,72,83,895.
A further short length of embankment on the left bank about 6 miles long
extending from Apyauk southwards to the district boundary was commenced
by the District Officers as an embanked road but was taken over by
Government and strengthened to form a flood embankment between the years
1882 and 1888. The embankment extends into the Thongwa District and has a
total length of 14 miles. The total cost has been Rs. 59,890 and the net revenue
obtained up to the end of the year 1911-12 was Rs. 13,02,967. It protects a
total of 32,000 acres."
There are besides several small embankments in the district which have
been made wholly or partly by the people themselves. The policy of
Government has long been to prohibit the erection of embankments on the left
or eastern bank of the Irrawaddy, but several small embankments have been
made by the villagers notably one from Apyauk northwards to the
Tharrawaddy border. The great floods of 1905-06 led to a re-enforcement of
these orders, but Mr. Samuelson is now investigating anew the feasibility of
embanking both banks of the Irrawaddy river.
Fisheries.
In 1867-68 the fisheries of the district were of two kinds river and lake the
former being those in the Irrawaddy
90 HENZADA DISTRICT
river. The latter, consisting of lakes and pools fed by rain water or the spill of
the Irrawaddy, gradually decreased in area as the embankments were built
from 1861 to 1888. The district contains one of the largest lakes in Burma, the
Tu lake, a few miles south-east of Htngyi, a station in Myanaung Township on
the Henzada-Kyangin railway. In 1878-79 there were 179 fisheries and one
tortoise bank (which seems to have become deserted by tortoises about the
year 1898) leased by Government. The Lemyethna Township had not then
been added to the district. A list of the fisheries now leased by Government is
given on page 8 of Volume B. There are now 245 leased fisheries in the district
and they cover 21,380 acres, but many streams and pools containing fish are
unleased and left for the enjoyment of the people.
CHAPTER V.
Forests Historical.
The area of the district under forest growth before the British occupation is
not known, but it was presumably larger than the present area. Judging by the
state of the forest in the district now, and the absence of the larger classes of
teak and pyingado, the two most valuable kinds of timber, it may be concluded
that timber was extensively extracted during Burmese times. Colonel Symes,
when on his way to Ava at the end of the eighteenth century, noticed that
Henzada appeared to be a very prosperous town, but there were very few signs
of any cultivation. Cultivation in the Henzada plain must have been almost
impossible at that time owing to the Irrawaddy floods, and it is highly probable
that Henzada owed its early prosperity entirely to the export of timber
extracted. in the district. Under the Burmese Government, no tree which
furnished wood or any useful extract could be felled without payment, and the
object then was, not forest conservancy, but the realization of the largest
possible revenue from the grantee of the Myo* and the officials in charge.
Beginning of conservancy.
General description.
Besides teak, the principal timber trees found in the district are:-
A more complete list of the flora of the district will be found in Appendix II.
HENZADA DISTRICT 93
The Forest Division, which comprises the Henzada District, includes the
two civil districts of Henzada and Maubin.
Acres.
Total 669,650
or rather more than 1,046 square miles. There are no forests in the Maubin
District, and hence the whole of this area under forest growth is comprised
within the Henzada District, that is, considerably more than a third of the area
of the district is forest:-
Reserves.
There are twelve forest reserves. The whole of the Arakan Mountain range
consists of reserved forests. Moving from the northern to the southern
boundary of the district, the reserves along the Yomas are known as the North
Myanaung Reserve, the Minywadaung Reserve, the South Myanaung Reserve
and the Lemyethna Reserve.
The Kyangin Reserve occupies the foothills stretching southwards from the
northern boundary of the district, parallel to the Irrawaddy, into the Myanaung
plain. The Yenandaung, Shwethanin, Songon, Thabyedaw, Kaingtha, Sinthe
94 HENZADA DISTRICT
and Padaw Reserves, are a series of small reserves occupying the Yenandaung
hills and foothills, which run due north and south, almost half-way between the
Arakan Mountains and the Irrawaddy. All the reserves, except the Lemyethna
Reserve, are in the Myanaung subdivision.
None of the reserved forests are open for extraction, and in the unclassed
forests no extraction is done department ally, and extraction on a large scale is
not attempted. Such
There are three small sawmills, worked by native firms, in the district, one
at Myanaung, one at Ingabu and one at Petye. The former works timber
brought down from the Prome District, the latter two have only just begun to
work. The number of sawpits varies from day to day, but they are always
numerous. They are scattered all over the district, being put up temporarily
wherever there is work, and are not numerous in any one locality.
Revenue.
The average annual gross revenue for the five years ending 1911-12 was
Rs. 90,348, derived almost entirely from the working of the unclassed forests
by local traders.
Floating streams.
The principal streams used for floating timber are the Alon, Kun, Yathuya,
Patashin, Kyaukni, and Padaw, in the extreme north of the district and the
Mamya, Nangathu North and South, Thebyu, Kanyin and Thida, flowing from
the Yenandaung hills. These streams are used for the floating of timber and
bamboos from the beginning of June to about the end of February.
HENZADA DISTRICT 95
Minerals.
The minerals of the district are of little importance and except road metal
are not worked at all. The following is a short account of the more important:-
Petroleum.
Pauktaing and Petye areas, among the Arakan foothills of the Kyangin
Township, in the Yenandaung area. Covering the Yenandaung hills, and in the
Kwingauk area, amongst the foothills in the south of the district. Professor
Murray Stuart, who made a geological survey of the district in 1911, states as
his definite opinion that none of these areas are oil bearing, and that the
chances of oil being found any where in the district are extremely remote
(Geology of the Henzada District, Burma; Records of the Geological Survey of
India, Volume VII, Part 4, 1912). Near Yenandaung village there is a water
spring and a gas outlet, which is said to have produced oil in the past. At
present no trace of oil is visible in the spring.
Graphite.
Iron pyrites.
Road metal.
Quarries for road metal, for which there is great demand in the district,
have been opened near Pauktaing, on the northern border of the district. The
stone obtained is unsuitable for road metal, as it consists of sand held together
by cemented carbonate of lime, and the action of rain water is to dissolve out
the carbonate of lime, leaving only fine loose sand. The best stone in the
district for road metal is to be found amongst the foothills of the Arakan
Mountains; it is intensely hard indurated sandstone, infiltrated with silica, and
offers great resistance to the weathering action of rain. This stone is not
quarried owing to the extreme difficulty of transport.
CHAPTER VI.
The figures given in this chapter of the number of persons engaged in any
industry include workers and their de pendants. According to the census of
1911, out of a total population of the district of 532,357, 397,606 persons
depended entirely upon agriculture for their livelihood
HENZADA DISTRICT 97
that is, nearly 75 per cent of the people are engaged in agriculture. These
figures make it obvious that all other trades and occupations are entirely
subordinate to that of agriculture.
The only handicraft * for which the district has any reputation is wood-
carving. The census of 1911 returned 4,979 as carpenters, wood turners, etc.,
and probably of this number less than 500 are really wood-carvers. The wood-
carvers all live in Henzada town, and most of them are congregated in the
Nyaungbin quarter. The wood-carving is principally used in making
decorations for monasteries and other religious buildings. The work is bold,
but coarse, and the carvers show considerable skill in design, their subjects
being usually taken from well known Burmese stories and plays.
Silversmiths.
Fishing.
At the census of 1911, 6,684 persons were returned as fishermen and 5,254
as fish dealers and their employees. Very few of these fishermen returned
agriculture as a subsidiary occupation. The licensed fisheries of the district
comprise the long chain of lagoons stretching from north to south down the
centre line of the district and most of the streams which are dry in the hot
weather. Fishing under net licenses is also extensively carried on in large
rivers.
In the licensed fisheries during the rains and dry season fish are caught
with various descriptions of nets and traps. During the hot weather, the
receding water is frequently bunded up, and there the water is scooped out by a
series of bamboo scoops working on a large bamboo frame, and the fish are
thereby left high and dry.
The average fishery revenue of the district for the five years 1908-13 was
Rs. 1,87,790. The year 1912-13 showed a substantial increase over previous
years. The best of the fish captured is sold fresh in the bazaars of the district,
the remainder is made up into fish paste (ngapi) and salt fish
(ngachauk). Practically all the fish captured is consumed locally and there is no
export of fish from the district.
Weaving.
Most of the goods made are sold locally, but a certain amount is sent to
Mandalay and to Rangoon. Mr. L. H. Sanriders, I.C.S., who was Deputy
Commissioner of the district in 1908 and 1909, took great interest in the silk
weaving industry, and invented several improvements to the shuttle, which are
now in use. The colony of silk weavers at Kyangin(which is by far the larger)
is certainly, and the colony at Henzada is probably, an off shoot of the large
colony of silk weavers at Prome.
men's jackets and blankets are the articles principally woven. The cotton used
is the rough yarn produced in the dryzone. All the articles made are worn
locally. The weaving industry, both of silk and cotton, is rapidly dying out
owing to the preference of the younger generation of Burmans for Manchester
cotton goods and Japanese silk.
"The art of weaving is fast dying out in the Henzada District, and the yarn
used is generally imported, and not locally spun. The same influences which
ensured the destruction of the home spinning and weaving in England are now
operating in Burma. The industry is moribund, the wages earned by a weaver
are not sufficient ordinarily to support a family, and the weavers rarely if ever
live entirely on their earnings. Weaving is a useful employ ment for the
unmarried girls only of the family. In the hills and remoter parts of the jungle
the Karens and hillmen still spin and weave their own clothing for home
consump tion."
These remarks are even more true today than they were when written. Even
Karens and hillmen now buy most of their clothing.
Boat building.
Training is an old industry of Henzada town, which is fast dying out. There
are said to be about 140 persons still engaged in it. Skins of buffaloes, for
sandals, ropes, reins, etc., and of oxen, for drums are cured. The hides are
steeped in lime emulsion to remove the hair and inner skin and then thoroughly
beaten. If they are to be used for sandal making they are next steeped again in
an emulsion of madama bark until of a reddish brown colour, and then beaten
again; this last process constitutes the tanning. If they are to be used for drums,
the hides, after having been thoroughly cured in the lime emulsion, are shaved
to the required thickness. Henzada still has some reputation for drums, but the
competition of European and Indian made
100 HENZADA DISTRICT
sandals and shoes has almost killed the sandal making industry.
Workers in iron.
In 19 11, 1,265 persons were returned as "workers in iron." These are all
ordinary village blacksmiths. There is no colony of blacksmiths in this district,
but the blacksmiths are to be found scattered all over it there being one in
almost every large village. Each blacksmith supplies the wants, in the way of
repairs to agricultural implements, etc., of his own particular locality. New iron
and steel implements are nowadays usually purchased in the towns, and are of
European manufacture. No ornamental iron work is made in the district.
Pottery.
There are 1,044 potters in the district, according to the census of 1911. The
industry has no reputation in this district, and only the rough pots used for
cooking and other household purposes, and the large jars for storing fish paste,
oil, etc., are made. The potters are concentrated on the south side of Henzada
town on the river bank, in Datmggyi village, a large village on the Irrawaddy
about 15 miles south of Henzada, and at Lemyethna, on the Ngawun river.
The census of 1911 returned 926 persons as masons and workers in stone.
These men are kept fully employed in building the new images, image houses
and brick monasteries which are continually springing up all over the district.
Grass mats, which are used for sitting and sleeping on, are made at
Henzada, Zalun, Myitkyo and Lemyethna. At the first three places only the
commoner varieties, selling at
HENZADA DISTRICT 101
Re. 1 to Rs. 2 each, are made. Lemyethna has some reputation for mat making,
and the best and most expensive varieties of mats can be procured there. Some
of these mats are almost as soft and pliable as a piece of cloth. The grass used
in their manufacture is "thin" grass. This grass is split open and the white
internal fibre is used in weaving the mats. Hence they are known as thinbyu
mats.
According to the census of 1911, there are 4,815 boatmen and 5,191
cartmen in the district. The principal article that they transport is, of course,
paddy. Save in the towns, where cart-men can make a livclihood all the year
round, the cart-men are agriculturists during the rains, and are employ ed in
carting paddy to the railway stations or to the river bank in the dry season. The
boatmen are fully employed all the year round; in fact they are most fully
employed during the rains, for the general rule is that all the paddy which is
stored by dealers within the district until the rains finds its way by boat to
Rangoon, the mills at Bassein being closed during the wet season. In spite of
the large number of Burmese boats more than half the trans port trade by river
is in the hands of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company.
The census of 1911 shows that brokers and their servants number 1,693,
and grain-dealers and their servants number 5,257. It is difficult to distinguish
between the two classes as most dealers in paddy also act as brokers, and most
paddy brokers buy paddy independently for private speculation as well. In
view of the enormous amount of paddy exported annually from the district the
above figures are not surprising.
Shopkeepers.
There are about 50,000 shopkeepers of all classes in the district. The opium
and liquor traffic, the large stores to be seen in Henzada, Myanaung, and other
towns, and most of the eating houses are in the hands of Chinamen. The
smaller general stores, the village shops, aerated water shops, etc., are kept by
Indians, principally Mahomedans of the Chulya class. Burmese women sell
vegetables, tobacco and those toothsome home made dainties beloved by the
Burman.
Factory industries.
Factory industries are of little importance. There are three saw mills, one at
Myanaung, one at Inbin and one at
102 HENZADA DISTRICT
Petye. The one at Myanaung only makes use of timber extracted in the Prome
District. The mills at Inbin and Petye have but recently been opened. In
Henzada town, apart from two or three unimportant cigar factories each
employing a few women, the factories consist of two rice mills and an oil mill.
The larger of the two rice mills, owned by Maung Po Sin, turns out about
2,000 bags of rice per week during the season, January to April. A consider
able amount of the rice is sent to Rangoon, and, to a lesser extent, to Bassein,
for export. The supplies obtained from the smaller mill are all consumed
locally. At the oil mill, which is owned by Maung Aung Myat Kyaw, sesamum
seed brought down from Upper Burma (the seed is actually shipped at Prome
and Pagan) is crushed. The resulting oil is put into cans and is used by
Burmans for cooking, while the refuse is made up into cakes, which constitutes
an excellent food for cattle. All the cake goes to Rangoon, but most of the oil is
consumed locally. About 8,500 bags of sesamum seed are dealt with yearly.
There are two very small rice mills at Myanaung and others at Danbi, on
the railway to Kyangin, 10 miles from Henzada, at Natmaw, the nearest station
to Henzada on the Bassein railway, at Kamauksu, the last station in the
Henzada District on the Bassein line and at Petye, 8 miles west of Kyangin on
the Patashin stream. These mills grind paddy brought in by local cultivators,
who use the resultant rice at home.
Messrs. Mohr Bros. & Co. have this year (1914) opened a factory at
Kyangin for pressing the locally grown tobacco into bales for export to Europe
and the Far East. It is not known whether the venture has been a success.
CHAPTER VII.
Means of Communication.
Waterways.
navigable for the largest steamers of the Flotilla Company all the year round.
Next in importance to the main Irrawaddy river is its effluent, the Ngawun.
The entrance to it from the main stream is not navigable during the dry
weather, but fairly large steamers can enter it during the rains, vide the Than
byadaing creek and the Kanyin stream (see Chapter I). The Ngawun is
navigable for launches from Bassein as far up as Ngathaing gyaung all the year
round, and large cargo boats can always ascend as far as Lemyethna. There is a
large traffic between Lemyethna and Bassein at all seasons and much of the
paddy from the Lemyethna Township finds its way to Bassein by boat. During
the rains the tugs and cargo fiats of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company and large
Burmese boats can ascend a considerable distance up most of the creeks which
are tributary to the Irrawaddy and Ngawun, and large quantities of paddy,
which have been stored up by dealers in order to get a higher price, are shipped
and taken to Rangoon by boat. In fact more paddy is transported by water
during the rains than during the dry season.
(1) Between Henzada and Rangoon, calling at Daung gyi and Zalun, twice
weekly.
(2) Between Henzada and Pyapon, calling at Daung gyi, Zalun and all the
larger places, daily.
(3) Between Henzada and Apyauk calling at every important village on both
banks of the river daily.
104 HENZADA DISTRICT
(4) Between Henzada and Prome, calling at every important village on both
banks of the river, daily.
(5) Between Henzada and Bassein, calling at all important stations, twice
weekly.
This last service is maintained from about the middle of June to the end of
October. In the dry season it is changed for a daily service between Bassein
and Ngathaing gyaung. Besides these regular services, tugs with cargo fiats are
sent wherever sufficient cargo is offered.
The only other waterways of any importance are the Daga river and the
Pannya stream. These streams are now but little used, as their trade has been
transferred to the rail way. A certain amount of paddy from the villages along
their banks is still sent to Rangoon by boat and during the rains a tug with
cargo flats of the Irrawaddy Fotilla Company occasionally ascends them into
the district.
Ferries.
A list of the leased ferries of the district will be found on page 7 of Volume
B of the Gazetteer. They are all situated on the Irrawaddy and Ngawun and
their tributaries.
Roads.
Outside the towns, the district is very badly off for roads, and but little
attention is paid to such roads as do exist. The main roads of the district are the
Henzada-Myanaung road and the Henzada-Nathainggyaung road, the first two
sections of which are in the Henzada District.
(l) From Tagwa to Ingabo. This is a bridged and drained road, but it is
almost impassable in the rains. It is almost five miles long.
(2) From Payagon to Taloktaw. This road is also bridged and drained. It is
three miles long, It is continued for eleven miles from Taloktaw to Myenu
(opposite Lemyethna) in the form of an embanked and bridged foot path.
miles, by abridged and drained road belonging to the District Cess Fund.
Besides the above roads, the berms of the embankments, extending along
the Irrawaddy and Ngawun, and except for a small interval between Ingauk
and Kyun-U, continu ous throughout the district, are all bridged, and are used
as cart roads.
In addition to the roads already mentioned there are the following Public
Works Department roads in the district:-
(1) The Akauktaung Hill roads, 14 miles in length. These roads are
unmetalled, and are only partially bridged They were originally constructed for
military purposes, and have not been properly maintained since there has been
no military use for them.
These latter two roads are short roads leading through the towns of
Henzada and Myanaung, but maintained by the Public Works Department and
not by the Municipalities. There are also the following District Cess Fund
roads:-
(2) From Henzada to Daunggyi, passing through Minin and Duya, This
road is unmetalled, and is bridged but not drained, An embankment footpath,
with a dry weather cart road in the berm, five miles long, connects Pyinmagon
with this road., through Duya.
(3) A short undrained and only partially bridged road, three miles long,
connecting Yenauk, on the border of the district, with Shanywa, on the
Ngawun below Lemyethna.
HENZADA DISTRICT 107
(4) An embanked and bridged footpath with a dry weather cart road in the
berm, nine miles long, connecting Zalun with Hnegyo, on the border of the
Maubin District. The appearance of a map of the district on which all these
roads are marked would give the impression that the district is well provided
with roads. This is not the actual fact, for few of the roads are of any real use
during the six months of the rains, and traffic can only struggle over the best of
them with extreme difficulty; and in the dry weather most of them are inferior
as a means of communication to the roads which are opened in all directions
across the rice fields. Their only advantage over the latter is that they constitute
an open space all the year round, whereas the latter are closed from the
beginning of the ploughing to the end of the reaping seasons.
Roadside arboriculture has been generally undertaken along the roads and
embankments of the district, and most of the roads are now shaded by fine
avenues of kokko trees.
Rest-houses.
Railways.
There are two lines of the railway in the district, one from Henzada to
Bassein, and one from Henzada to Kyangin. The lines are both single lines of
railway, and like all the Burma Railways are on the metre gauge. The Henzada
Bassein branch of the Burma Railways connects Bassein and Henzada with
Rangoon. There is a railway ferry across the river Irrawaddy between Henzada
and Tharrawaw, and then from Tharrawaw to Letpadan junction there is
another single branch line. At Letpadan connection is made with the main
"Rangoon to Prome" line of railway. Thus by rail, Henzada is 109 miles from
Rangoon,
108 HENZADA DISTRICT
and 83 miles from Bassein. There is one through train each way per diem
between Rangoon and Bassein. Besides these trains there is one local train
daily each way between Henzada and Bassein, and one additional train each
way from Rangoon to Henzada only, At Letpadan connections have to be made
with the Rangoon Prome trains. The journey from Rangoon to Basstin takes
about 17½ hours and the journey from Rangoon to Henzada about 9½ hours.
All the trains are mixed goods and passenger trains, and stop at all stations on
the branch lines.
Only the first five stations on the Henzada Bassein branch are in the
Henzada District. These stations are Henzada, Natmaw, Neikban, Yonthalin
and Kamauksu. Henzada and Kamauksu stations are 18 miles apart.
The Henzada to Kyangin branch is 65 miles long. There are two trains each
way daily, * and the trains are mixed goods and passenger trains. All the trains
stop at every station. The journey from Henzada to Kyangin or vice versa takes
4 hours 40 minutes. There are sixteen stations on the line, namely Henzada,
Tagwa, Payagone Ywatha, Danbi, Myogwin, Tanbingan, Ingabu, Zaungdan,
Mazaligon, Htugyi, Kanyinngu, Inbin, Tegyigon, Myanaung and Kyangin. The
lines was constructed in the years 1906-1908. opened as far as Danbi, I3½
miles from Henzada, on September 20th, 1907, and the remainder of the line
was opened on December 14th, 1908. Considerable difficulty was experienced
in bridging the Ngawun river owing to the unstable nature of its bed but now
the fine bridge by which the railway crosses the Ngawun at Myogwin is a great
feature of the railway. The centre span of the bridge opens to admit the passage
of large boats and steamers, in the same manner as the Tower Bridge in
London, although, as it is on a smaller scale than the Tower Bridge, the
machinery is worked by hand and not by hydraulic power.
* In the autumn of 1914 only one train was run each way owing to the
decrease of traffic due to the war.
HENZADA DISTRICT 109
The goods traffic of both lines consists principally in the carriage of paddy
to Bassein during the months of January, February and March. Some of the
richest tracts of the district are tapped by the railway lines, and the amount of
paddy transported is enormous. The ordinary mixed trains are quite incapable
of dealing with it, and special goods trains have to run during these months.
For the remainder of the year the goods traffic is inconsiderable. The Burman
is a great traveller and is very fond of railway travelling. The passenger traffic
is considerable all the year round, and during the hot weather months the trains
are packed, many passengers riding on the foot boards. Both lines were
successful from the first, and they now show a good profit every year.
There are post offices at the headquarters of every town ship, and also at
the majority of the places that have been notified as towns (see Chapter XI).
The telegraph office and the post office at Henzada are separate buildings. All
other offices in the district are combined post and telegraph offices. Besides
these facilities, post boxes have been established at the headquarters of almost
every village tract in the district, and these boxes are cleared at least once
weekly, and twice weekly in all important villages, by village postmen who are
sent out on circuit from the central, post offices.
CHAPTER VIII.
Famine.
Famines and even scarcity are unknown in the Henzada District. The crops
are dependant on the rainfall, but the outturn is hardly ever less than 75 per
cent of the normal (see Table V, Volume B), and in normal years there is a
huge surplus for export.
CHAPTER IX.
General Administration.
Executive administration.
Tharrawaw. This district comprised the whole of the present Henzada and
Tharrawaddy Districts, except the Lemyethna Township of the Henzada
District, and the Tarokmaw Township and the Thonze circle of the Tharra
waddy District; the Danubyu Township of the present Maubin District was also
included. At the head of the district was an English Deputy Commissioner, and
the district was split up into "townships" corresponding to the old Burmese
myos. Each township was placed under a Burmese officer under the
designation of Myo-ok, and he was entrusted with moderate judicial, revenue,
and police powers. Under the myo-ok, were the circle thugyis and the
yazawutgaungs (rural policemen), as in Burmese times, the only change made
being that the right of appointment of gaungs was taken away from the thugyis,
and placed directly in the hands of the Deputy Commissioner.
At the same time a very considerable change was made. Under Burmese
rule certain classes to mention a few, traders, fishermen, ploughmen of royal
lands, brokers and silver assayors had their own gaungs and oks (rulers), and
were not responsible to the circle thugyi. These special gaungs and oks were
done away with, and all classes were brought under the general law of the
country. It took the thugyis and gaungs some time to understand that all classes
of persons within their respective charges were under their jurisdiction.
Such myowuns and thugyis as readily submitted to the British and gave
assistance were continued in their appointments the myowuns as myooks.
Vacancies were filled with Burmans of influence, who had shown themselves
ready to support the new Government.
112 HENZADA DISTRICT
The Burmese system was to exact a definite and fixed revenue from each
division, and to allow the officials in charge of the divisions no defined salary,
but the criminal fines and the fees from the administration of justice and such
further sums as they could squeeze from the inhabit ants; at the same time the
local officials were held strictly responsible for their quota of the revenue and
for supplying war boats and men when required. The result of this system was
that every official, from the Governor down to the thugyis, kept as many
followers as he could support, or as could support themselves within his
jurisdiction, without driving the inhabitants into such discontent that they
appealed to Ava, or into rebellion or flight. The result of the establishment of
British Government was that these men were thrown loose upon the country to
make a living by robbery and violence.
Formation of the Pegu Light fantry and the Tharrawaddy local police.
At the same time it was recognized that the thugyis and gaungs, with their
peons, were powerless against these bands of marauders who literally overran
the country. A local regiment was therefore raised, called the Pegu Light
Infantry; it was composed of a commandant, a second in command, an
adjutant, four subalterns, one assistant surgeon, seven native commissioned
and 78 non-commissioned officers, and 495 rank and file, with their
headquarters at Myanaung; whilst in Tharrawaddy Captain Browne organized
a local police force, 546 strong, to which two European non-commissioned
officers were attached. Great difficulty was met in forming these corps, owing
to the reluctance of Burmans and Talaings to enlist, and an endearour was
made with little success to get Malay recruits for the Pegu Light Infantry from
the Straits; but
HENZADA DISTRICT 113
in a few years the corps were raised to their full sanctioned strength, and in
1858 detachments of the Pegu Light Infantry relieved the troops of the line on
the detached frontier posts in the Prome District.
In 1870 the headquarters of the district was trans ferred from Myanaung to
Henzada, and the district was re-named the Henzada District a year or two
later.
Formation of Municipalities.
Rangoon District, was added to the Henzada District, and in 1875-76, the
Danubyu Township was taken away and made part of the newly formed
Thongwa District.
It was about this period that the great influx of immigration into the district
was taking place, and the large Henzada District, as it then existed, rapidly
became unmanageable. Therefore in 1878 all that part of the district on the east
of the Irrawaddy, except the two circles of Apyauk and Myitwa in the extreme
south, were formed into a separate district, called Tharrawaddy, with
headquarters at a new settlement of that name.
The territory west of the Irrawaddy became known as the Henzada District
and the headquarters were placed at Henzada. The district was divided up into
the following townships:-
The head quarters of the townships were at the places having the same
name as respective townships. The first three formed the Henzada subdivision,
under the immediate control of a Subdivisional Officer, who was a first grade
Extra Assistant Commissioner, stationed at Henzada. An European Assistant
Commissioner was stationed at Myanaung and had under his control the
remaining three town ships.
In 1881-82, the Pegu Division was split up into two divisions, the Pegu
Division and the Irrawaddy Division, the main Irrawaddy river forming the
boundary. From this time forward Henzada District has formed part of the
Irrawaddy Division.
It must not be supposed that prior to the passing of the Village Act there were
no village headmen in Lower Burma. Yazawutgaungs and kyedangyis were
also ywathugyis by the consent of their villagers, but the office was not
recognized by Government. The Village Act legalised their position, laid down
their duties, responsibilities and privileges, and defined the duties and
responsibilities of villagers. By this Act, the village headman was made the
connecting link between the higher Government officials and the people.
At present (1914) there are in the Henzada District 655 village headmen, of
whom 562 collect revenue and draw commission. Of these, 68 headmen
exercise special criminal powers, giving them power to impose a fine of Rs. 50
and one month's imprisonment in certain cases, instead of the ordinary powers
of Rs. 5 fine and 24 hours' imprisonment; 73 headmen are also empowered to
try petty civil suits up to Rs. 20 in value. These civil and special criminal
powers are given to especially deserving headmen as rewards and
HENZADA DISTRICT 117
are much sought after. Only nine circle thugyis remain in the district, and only
three persons still draw salaries as yazawutgaungs.
In 1890 the Lemyethna Township was transferred from the Bassein District
to the Henzada District, and was added to the Henzada subdivision. This
change was made as the Bassein District had become unwieldy and Lemyethna
was more easily supervised from Henzada than from Ngathaing gyaung. Save
for minor readjustments of district boundaries, no furrier alterations in the
boundary of the district have since been made.
By 1854 the efforts of the district officers reduced the district to something
like order, and all attempts at organized insurrection ceased, but violent crimes,
chiefly murders and gang robberies, were alarmingly frequent. The rural police
from the first showed themselves to be quite incapable of dealing with serious
crime.
In 1861 the Provincial Police force of the Province of Pegu was formed,
most of the officers and men of the Pegu Light Infantry joining it, that
regiment at the same time being disbanded. From this time onwards, the rural
police force was supplemented by a paid police force under trained officers.
When the Province of British Burma was formed in 1862, this force
became part of the police force of the Province, and was recruited, disciplined
and controlled under the provisions of the Police Act, Act V of the Governor
General in Council of 1861. All police duties and police powers were taken
away from the myooks and transferred to the officers of the Provincial Police,
police posts were gradually established throughout the districts, and the village
police communicated direct with the nearest local police post. The District
Police were recruited chiefly from the inhabitants of the different districts, with
a view to their having as much local influence as possible; the police in the
towns was principally Indian. It was sometime before the new police gained
the confidence of the people, and at first they did not work at all well with the
myooks, circle thugyis, and gaungs. At first constables were only paid Rs. 10
per month but as it was found that a good class of constable could not be
recruited for this pay, the
120 HENZADA DISTRICT
wages of a constable were in 1869 raised to Rs. 12 per mensem in the more
expensive districts.
No further changes were made in the constitution of the police force until
1876, when the District Magi trate was given full control, save for internal
arrangement and discipline, over the police of his district.
Punitive Police.
The next step was to consider the reorganization of the Rural Police. This
was accomplished by the Village Act of 1889, of which an account has already
been given. The
122 HENZADA DISTRICT
Military Police.
(1) The formation of a Military Police Force for Lower Burma. From 1886,
onwards, large numbers of Indian police had been recruited, and were
employed on duties in which courage and discipline are essential, such as
guards for lock-ups, treasuries, etc., and escorts for prisoners, experience
having shown that the Burma Police were useless for these purposes. A reserve
of these men was kept at each district headquarters to be in readiness to
suppress any organized outbreak of violent crime. The Burma Police were
employed almost solely as a detective body. These Indian Police were
disbanded and such of them as were suitable were re-enlisted under the
Military Police Act of 1888, and brought on the same footing as the Military
Police of Upper Burma. Two battalions of Military Police were so formed and
were distributed over Lower Burma, as required, and the men were used for the
duties for which Indians had been recruited in 1886. The ordinary Civil Police,
except in the large towns, were recruited almost entirely from local natives of
Burma, and were employed as a detective force. This arrangement still subsists
up to the present day, and Military Police are now to be found at every district
and subdivisional, and at almost every township, headquarters. It is only at
outlying stations and outposts that the Burma Police have to do duty as escorts
and guards.
the time, the European Inspectors and Sergeants having a very salutary effect
on the discipline and the capacity for work of the men beneath them. The need
for these men has now disappeared and the European Sergeant and Inspector
are now only to be found in the large towns.
(3) An increase of pay in the lower grades and especially in the pay of
Sergeants and Officers in charge of police stations. It has never been found
practical to carry out the suggestion of further raising the pay of the lowest
grade of constables above the old rate of Rs. 14 in expensive districts and Rs.
12 in others. The pay of the police is still a burning question, and it is generally
admitted that the proper class of men is not recruited as constables, owing to
the small pay and prospects offered.
Police Schools.
Beat Patrols.
(5) Institution of regular beat patrols. Beat patrols had always been sent out
spasmodically from the police posts, but there was no proper system. Hence
for ward a
124 HENZADA DISTRICT
eat constable had to visit the headquarters of each village tract at least once a
month, and make enquiries as to the whereabouts of well known bad
characters, etc. This system is still in force.
Disarmament.
One further measure was taken in 1889 to restore Burma to order, and this
was the disarmament of the Province. The number of gun licenses was reduced
enormously, and the licenses were only issued to persons of proved loyalty,
and under conditions which made it practically impossible for the arms to fall
into the hands of dacoits. The pacification of Burma was to a large extent due
to the vigorous manner in which the disarmament was carried out.
Police Commission.
Since 1888, there has been no organized rebellion in the Henzada District,
save for the abortive Mayoka rebellion, which took place in 1912 and of which
an account is contained in Chapter II; but Henzada still retains its reputation as
one of the most criminal districts of the Province.
Dacoties in which firearms are used still occur frequently, in spite of the
difficulty experienced by bad characters in obtaining arms; violent crimes in
which knives and weapons are used, and cattle thefts are still very numerous.
Little progress will be made in suppressing these crimes while the Burman
keeps all his money and valuables in his house, and leaves his cattle to graze
unattended in the fields.
Police buildings.
After the formation of the Provincial Police, the cons traction of buildings
to accommodate the various police posts was rapidly proceeded with. Only
temporary mat and wooden buildings were erected, and these were erected by
the Police Department itself without the intervention of the Public Works
Department. It was not until after 1872 that any attempt was made to construct
defensible police stations, Since that date the construction of defensible police
stations has been gradually proceeded with by the Public Works Department.
In 1897-98 the temptation to bad characters to steal arms from undefended
police stations was recognized and orders were passed that all stations and
outposts where arms are kept should be made defensible, and although many
outposts are still only temporary mat buildings, practically every post in which
arms are kept is now defensible.
No attempt was made to provide quarters for the rank and file of the police
before 1881. From that date temporary barracks for unmarried men and
cottages for the married ones were gradually constructed departmentally. It is
only of recent years that the Public Works Department has been called upon to
construct quarters for housing police, and much of the work is still done
departmentally. Now a certain number of cottages and barracks are to be found
attached to every police post, but the accommodation is still very inadequate
and in many cases most unsuitable. There is no doubt that this lack of proper
quarters has a bad effect on recruitment.
The present sanctioned strength of the police force of the Henzada District,
exclusive of punitive police is:-
1 District Superintendent.
1 Deputy Superintendent as Headquarters Assistant.
2 Deputy Superintendents as Subdivisional Officers.
1 Inspector as Court Prosecutor.
1 Town Inspector,
5 Circle Inspectors.
41 Sub Inspectors.
51 Head Constables.
126 HENZADA DISTRICT
417 Constables.
190 Military police (officers and men).
These, besides the reserve and the men in the training depot, are distributed
between 16 police stations and one outpost. There are Military Police at each
of the six township headquarters and also at Kanaung. A list of the police
stations and outposts and the sanctioned strength of each will be found in the B
Volume of the Gazetteer.
Jails.
Jails were non existent in Burmese times, and after the annexation of
Lower Burma, the confinement of prisoners was a matter of extreme difficulty.
A jail was established at Henzada in 1854, but it consisted merely of a
temporary mat building with no enclosure whatever. Attempts at escape were
frequent and often successful. In 1861 the Jails at Henzada and Mingyi
(Tharrawaddy) were abolished, but were retained as lock-ups where under trial
prisoners and convicts sentenced to less than one month's imprisonment were
kept; all convicts sentenced to longer terms of imprisonment were sent to
Rangoon.
In 1875-76 the lock-up at Henzada was raised to the status of a fourth class
district jail, so that in future all prisoners convicted in the district and
sentenced to six months' imprisonment or less were confined there. But
although classed as a district jail, the buildings were those of a lock-up only,
and were quite inadequate for the requirements of the district. In 1876 the jail
HENZADA DISTRICT 127
Superintendents.
At first the jails were put in charge of the executive officers, but after the
reorganization of the Jail Department in 1864, the District Medical Officers
were made Superintendents of the district jails, subject to the orders of the
Deputy Commissioner. This arrangement still continues, the civil surgeon
being ex-officio the superintendent of the district jail. The jail at Myanaung is
under the superintendence of the Sub Assistant Surgeon there.
Jail Buildings.
Every jail has attached to it a garden where all the vegetables consumed in
the jail, and in many jails a great many for sale, are grown by convict labour.
All convicts are, as far as possible, put to useful labour, unremunerative hard
labour being rarely imposed, and artisans are allowed to exercise their own
trades, if facilities can be provided.
Henzada Jail.
There was serious overcrowding in the jail in 1910, and additional barracks
have since been constructed by convict labour to prevent a repetition of this.
Myanaung Jail.
Statistics of the jail population, cost per head, etc., for both jails, will be
found in the B Volume of the Gazetteer.
After the annexation of Lower Burma, the Myooks or 3rd class extra
assistant Commissioners, appointed to the charge of townships, were given 3rd
class magisterial powers, 3rd class extra assistant commissioners, or sitkes had
2nd class powers, and assistant commissioners and 1st class sitkes had 1st
class powers. All the magistrates in the district were subordinate to the Deputy
Commissioner or District Magistrate, who was given powers to try all cases
not punishable with death and to inflict a sentence of seven years, rigorous
imprisonment. Appeals from all magistrates of the district lay to the District
Magistrate. The chief judicial authority was the Commissioner in charge of
each of the three provinces, and a second appeal lay to him, and he also tried
what are now known as" sessions cases." When the province of British Burma
was formed in 1861, the Chief Commissioner's Court became the Sadar Court
of the Province, and the Court of the three Commissioners of Divisions became
Sessions Courts, for hearing appeals from the District Magistrates' Courts and
trying sessions cases, i.e., cases requiring a more severe penalty than seven
years' rigorous imprisonment.
HENZADA DISTRICT 129
At first the Township Magistrates were only accorded petty 3rd class
powers. In 1868 the experiment was introduced of giving Burman Magistrates
higher powers as they appeared fitted to receive them, and now a days a myook
is given 3rd class magisterial powers on joining, and .his powers are increased,
first to 2nd class and then to 1st class as he gains sufficient experience to
exercise the in creased powers, provided he has passed certain prescribed
examinations in criminal law.
When the district of Henzada was formed in 1878, the following was the
distribution of the stipendiary Magis trates:-
1 District Magistrate at Henzada.
2 Subdivisional Magistrates with 1st class powers at Henzada and
Myanaung.
2 Township Magistrates (sitkes) with 1st class powers at Henzada and
Zalun.
2 Township Magistrates with 2nd class powers at Myanaung and Kyangin.
2 Township Magistrates with 3rd class powers at Kanaung and Okpo.
Honorary Magistrates.
In 1905 the superior judicial service of the Province was organized, and
Lower Burma was divided into Sessions divisions, over each of which a
Sessions Judge was appointed, who relieved the Commissioner of the Division
of all his judicial duties. At the same time appeals from the decision of 1st
class Magistrates were made direct to the Sessions Judge, instead of to the
District Magistrate. Until 1913 Henzada District was part of the Delta Sessions
Division, when it was transferred to the new Tharrawaddy Sessions Division.
Village Headman.
By the Village Act of 1889 headmen were empowered to try petty criminal
cases and inflict fines up to a limit of Rs. 5 and 24 hours' imprisonment. In
addition certain headmen have been specially empowered to inflict one
month's imprisonment and fines up to a limit of Rs. 50 in certain cases. There
are 660 village headmen in the district, of whom 68 have been given these
special criminal powers.
and the various other Magistrates have been appointed to relieve the
congestion of work in the various township and subdivisional and the district
courts.
1 2 3
Civil Justice.
After the annexation of Lower Burma, the myooks, or 3rd class Extra
Assistant Commissioners were given powers to try civil suits of less than £50
in value, 2nd class Extra Assistant Commissioners or Sitkes were empowered
to hear suits of a value up to £300 in value, and 1st class Extra Assistant
Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners were empowered to hear suits up
to £ 500 in value, ten rupees being reckoned equal to £ 1. The Deputy
Commissioner of the district was also the District
132 HENZADA DISTRICT
Judge, and was empowered to try suits of any value, and also to hear appeals
from the orders of any Judge in the district. Appeals from. the orders of the
District Judge were heard by the Commissioner of the Provinces but the latter
tried no original civil suits.
After the formation of the Province of British Burma, by Act 1 of 1863, the
Chief Commissioner was given the powers of a High Court, and his court
became the final Court of appeal in all civil, as well as criminal, matters of the
Province. The Commissioners of Divisions became Divisional Judges for
hearing appeals from the courts of the District Judges, and there was a second
appeal from the decisions of the Commissioners to the Chief Commissioner.
The Civil Courts of the Province were regularized by the British Burma
Courts Act of 1875. By this Act, the Courts were divided up into:-
Court of a 1st and 2nd grade Extra Assistant Commissioner and Assistant
Commissioners having jurisdiction in suits up to a value of Rs. 3,000.
Court of the Divisional Judge, hearing appeals from the District Court, and
having the powers of a Small Cause Court.
Court of the Judicial Commissioner, the Sadar Court of the Province. The
later Lower Burma Court Act of 1889, passed after the annexation of Upper
Burma, did not alter the constitution and powers of these Courts.
HENZADA DISTRICT 133
When the Henzada District was formed in 1878 the following were the
Civil Courts of the district:-
In 1892 it was recognized that in many townships the revenue work of the
executive myooks had increased to such an extent that they could not give
proper time to their judicial duties. Special Township Judges were therefore
created, who were given the civil work of two or three town ships, holding
their courts at the headquarters of the various townships in their jurisdiction as
the state of their files required, the executive myooks of these townships being
entirely relieved of their civil judicial duties. Such a township judge was
created for Henzada Municipality in 1901, and one was created for Henzada
and Kanaung Town ships in 1902. Others have been created for different
townships of the district, as the work required. The sys tem of these peripatetic
township judges was condemned in 1908 and the headquarters of the township
judges were fixed at the headquarters of the township over which they had
jurisdiction; in cases in which their jurisdictions extended over more than one
township, their headquarters were permanently fixed at the headquarters of one
of the townships; they were also made additional township magistrates in most
cases. This is the system at present in existence, and there are now in Henzada
District, township judges at Henzada, Zalun, Lemyethna, Ingabu, and Myan
sung. All these township judges, except the one at Henzada, are additional
township magistrates. The civil township judge at Myanaung is judge for both
the Myanaung and Kyangin Townships but sits permanently at Myanaung.
134 HENZADA DISTRICT
None of the executive myooks of this district have now any jurisdiction to
try civil cases.
The Chief Court of Lower Burma was established in 1900 and succeeded
the Judicial Commissioner as the principal Court of Lower Burma. The Act
creating the Chief Court also repealed the Lower Burma Courts Act of 1889
and revised the whole civil judicial system. Up to this time a Township Court
might have jurisdiction up to Rs. 500 or up to Rs. 3,000 and might also have
limited small cause court powers, according to the grade of the officer in
charge. Under the new Act the Courts of a district were divided into three
classes, independent of the status of the presiding officer-
Appeals from Township Courts lay to the District Court. Appeals from
Subdivisional Courts and the District Court lay to the Divisional Court, except
in the case of suits of a value over Rs. 5,000 when appeals were directed from
the District Court to the Chief Court.
District Judges.
In 1906 an Additional District Judge for the Henzada District alone was
appointed. He was also made subdivisional judge for the Henzada subdivision.
HENZADA DISTRICT 135
The civil judicial work of the district is now carried on by the following
Judge:-
The average value of suits instituted in the Courts of the district has
increased very much since the district was formed. In 1878, the first year of
existence of the district, the average value of the suits instituted was Rs. 53. In
1891 it was Rs. 66. In 1901 it was Rs. 123 and in 1912 it was Rs. 171.
Although the fact that many cases are now tried by headmen has served to
materially increase the average value of suits instituted in Township courts, the
greatest increase in value is in the more important suits tried by the
Subdivisional and District Courts, and it is a sign of the great increase in the
prosperity of the district. Suits are chiefly for recovery of money due on pro
notes, mortgage suits, and disputes about land, as might be supposed from the
agricultural nature of the district. The increase in the value of suits is largely
due to the enormous increase in the value of agricultural land which has taken
place within the last thirty years.
Registration.
The Registration Act (VIII of 1871) came into force in 1871. Registration
offices were opened at the head quarters of districts in Lower Burma, the
Deputy Commissioners being made Registrars. An Inspector General of
Registration was at first appointed, but the appointment was abolished the next
year. The appointment was again
136 HENZADA DISTRICT
Sub registration offices were opened in 1872 at out stations where there
were Assistant Commissioners or Extra Assistant Commissioners with a
knowledge of English. In 1878 there were in the Henzada District a registration
office at Henzada and sub registration offices at Henzada and Myanaung.
At first the sub registrars were all paid a proportion of the registration fees
collected and had to make their own arrangements for clerical work. Now the
Township Officers have to perform their registration work as part of their
ordinary duties, and the ordinary clerical establishment of their offices has to
do the clerical work. Only the specially appointed sub registrars are
remunerated. There is usually a small clerical establishment, of one or two
clerks for registration work in the District office. The registration
establishment of the Henzada District now consists of one sub registrar at
Henzada and five sub-registrars, who are also Township Officers, at Zalun,
Lemyethna, Myanaung,
HENZADA DISTRICT 137
Kyangin and Ingabu. There are also four special non official sub registrars, one
each at Henzada, Myanaung, Ingabu and Zalun. The registration department of
the district office consists of only one clerk.
At first, owing to the fact that the indigenous population did not understand
the provisions of the Act. and that registration offices were few and far
between, but little use was made of registration. Now a days the general
provisions for the registration of documents and the advantages accruing from
registration are certainly fully understood in the Henzada District. In this
district, in 1878-79 there were three registration offices and 150 documents
affecting im movable property of the value of Rs. 88,767 were registered. In
1891-92 there were eight registration offices and 538 documents affecting
immovable property of the value of Rs. 6, 15,623, were registered. In 1902
there were six offices and 1,570 documents affecting immovable property of
the value of Rs. 9,10,166, were registered. In 1912 there were six offices, and
4,452 documents, affecting immovable property of the value of Rs. 27,54,622,
were registered. The great majority of deeds registered are deeds of sale and
mortgage. The number of documents, affecting movable property, registered is
inconsiderable.
The public works of chief importance in the Henzada District are the
embankments lining the Irrawaddy and Ngawun rivers. Henzada is the
headquarters of the Embankment division and the Executive Engineer in
charge and his Assistant Engineer reside at Henzada. The embankments
properly belong to the agriculture of the district and an account of them will be
found in Chapter IV. About every 8 to 10 miles along the whole length of the
embankments excellent inspection bungalows, well furnished in every way,
have been erected. The embankments and the cart roads along the inside of
them are very largely used as means of communication between the various
riverine villages and towns.
In the matter of roads and buildings, Henzada District is part of the Delta
Public Works Division, the Executive Engineer in charge residing at Bassein.
A Subdivisional Officer is stationed at Henzada. The Public Works of this
138 HENZADA DISTRICT
nature are of little importance and consist merely of the necessary court houses
and public offices, a few rest houses and officers' residences, and some roads.
The construction of roads in the Henzada plain was first begun in 1882 and
nearly all the roads now maintained from Provincial Funds were completed by
1886. Except for the road from Myogwin to Myanaung practically no new
roads have since been constructed from Provincial Funds. There are only 6½
miles of metalled roads, maintained from Provincial Funds, in the district, and
only 41 miles of fully bridged and drained unmetalled roads.
Apart from the bungalows belonging to the Embankment division, there are
Public Works Department Inspection Bungalows at Kamauksu, Naikban,
Pauktaing, Myanaung, Tegyigon, Mataungda (Mezalion), Taloktaw, Zinbyun,
Lem yethna and Henzada, where there is also a Circuit House. The Inspection
Bungalow and Circuit House at Henzada are in excellent condition but the
condition of the other bungalows varies considerably. The work of the
Department in the Henzada District consists merely of the maintenance of the
existing roads and buildings in charge of the department and the carrying out
of works paid for from District Funds.
CHAPTER X.
Revenue Administration.
The present district of Henzada was formed in 1890. Up till 1852 when the
province of Pegu was taken by the British the revenue administration was, as
far as is known, the same as existed in the other parts of the Burmese kingdom.
It has been described as follows:-
"The country was parceled out into governorships or myos and a fixed
amount of revenue was demanded from each governorship. The governorship
was divided into circles and the circles into villages. The principal tax was a
tax upon families, who were generally assessed by the village officers
according to their reputed wealth, the land
HENZADA DISTRICT 139
cultivated by each being taken as a guide. This tax in fact corresponded to the
thathameda tax of Upper Burma, and, so far as it was paid by cultivators, was
really a form of land revenue. Direct land revenue was not taken by the
Burmese government in all districts, but, where it was established, it took the
form of a fixed amount in silver per plough or yoke of oxen, or a produce tax
of (nominally) 10 per cent of the gross produce, which had to be paid in kind
and conveyed by the cultivators to the government granaries. In practice, the
produce tax was arbitrarily assessed. Only very scanty records existed to show
the method of assessing the family tax, or the amount collected on account of
that item or on account of the land tax. There were besides many other
imposts, among which were a tax on brokerage,- transit dues, dues on the sale
of cattle, varying dues on various kinds of produce, dues levied from
fishermen, etc. These dues were not all levied in the same governorship but
some in one and some in others. Then there were, in addition, fees in law suits
and criminal fines and special remittances to be made to the capital as presents
from the myosa (governor) and the local officials to the king at the
commencement of each year, the cost of which was wrung from the people.
Lastly, each tract was required to support the men who were annually called
out to protect the frontier or specially for more particular duty. The local
officials received no regular salary, but were paid by a portion of these fees
and dues, and it was to their interest to squeeze from the people as much as
they could or dared. Added to all the above, there were extraordinary
contributions to the crown, called for on public emergencies, the amount being
fixed by the king's government at the capital, e.g., in 1798, when a call of 33½
ticals of silver was made from every house; this took two years to collect and
produced about 6 lakhs. No doubt the amount levied from the people was
much larger".
"Under the Burmese rule the two tracts east and west of the Irrawaddy
including Donabyu remitted annually to the Central Government at Ava, or to
the Myo-tsa to whom
140 HENZADA DISTRICT
they had been allotted, the revenue shown in the following fable:-
The small revenue derived from rice land and the comparatively large
amount derived from transit duties was due to the small area of rice and the
comparatively large area of garden and vegetable cultivation; the two latter
were not taxed but duties were levied on the produce when carried into another
township."
"On the British occupation the transit duties and duties on licensed brokers
were abolished but the other imposts were retained slightly altered, whilst
some other indirect
At the end of the decade the total revenue had increased to Rs. 8,29,5 10 or
had nearly doubled, exclusive of bazaar rent and other items which were now
credited to local revenue. The increase was under every head except excise
which had greatly fallen off.
1855-56. 1864-65.
Rs. Rs.
Ten years later, in 1874-75, the gross revenue was Rs. 13,56,193, but
owing to the rapid growth in the population the rate per head had fallen from
about Rs. 2-14-0 to about Rs. 2.9-0.
142 HENZADA DISTRICT
The gross revenue for the year 1876-77 divided into its main heads was:-
Rs.
1. Land Revenue 5,75,893
2. Capitation tax 4,60,061
3. Fishcries, leases and net licenses 79,498
4. Salt tax 43
5. Forest produce 177
6. Other items---
Rs.
(a) Excise on spirits and drugs 89,727
(b) Fines and forfeitures 24,843
(c) Unclaimed property sold 634
(d) Miscellaneous 12,739
(e) Postage and Telegraphs stamps 7,695
(f) Law stamps 45,332
1 ,80,970
Total 12,96,642
7. Local taxes 1,30,692
Grand Total 14,27,334
The local revenues are derived from Municipal and Town taxes, market
stall rents, contributions to the dispensaries, fines and the 5 per cent cess,
which are credited either to the town in which they are levied or where levied
out of any town to the district generally. The amounts thus received in 1876-77
were:-
Rs.
Municipal Fund 45,648
District Fund 40,875
Five per cent cess 41,062
Dispensary 2,507
Total 1,30,692
In 1862 the old district had been combined with Tharrawaddy District to
form the Myanaung District and its revenue administration was the same as
that of the Pegu Division which also included the districts of Rangoon,
Bassein, Prome and Toungoo. In 1870 the headquarters of the district were
moved to Henzada and two years later the district received its present name of
Henzada. In 1875-76 the township of Danubyu was removed from the district
HENZADA DISTRICT 143
to form part of the Thongwa District. In 1877-78 part of Shage Circle was
transferred from Bassein to Henzada District. In 1878 the eastern part of the
district was removed and made into Tharrawaddy District. In 1887-88 Sir
Frederic Fryer was appointed first Financial Commissioner of the province. In
the same year the supplementary survey department took over all the settled
land in the district. In 1881-82 Henzada District became part of the new
division called the Irrawaddy Division which was formed in that year. The
revenue administration of the district is described below under various heads.
The total revenue is shown in Table XII, Volume B, to have risen about 30 per
cent between 1901-02 and 1913-14. The increase has been a steady one except
in the period 1905-06 to 1907-03. Its chief items are in order of importance
land revenue proper, capitation tax, excise, fisheries and stamps. They are
treated of separately below.
Early Assessments.
Major Phayre found the lands of each village divided into blocks called
kwins and he ordered inquiry and experiment to be made into the gross outturn
per acre of and the local price in each of these kwins and laid down a fifth of
the value of the gross outturn as the theoretical rate for the kwin. This kwin
system of assessment was carried out in due course in Henzada District about
the year 1860. In some parts of the province an attempt to introduce the
"village" system, a kind of system of fixed assessments was made, but failed
because there was neither communal tenure nor a sense of joint responsibility
among the villagers. The amount to be paid by any individual had under the
kwin system to be determined by annual measurement of the land he held
made by the thugyi or a surveyor employed by him but this was so
unsatisfactory that the "lease" system has devised by which the owner of land
was to accept a lease for ten years of less at a fixed amount yearly and so the
measurement could be dispensed with. This system appears to have been tried
first in the year 1858-59. In 1862 the province of British Burma was made by
the union of Arakan, Tenasserim and Pegu. In 1863-64 settlement operations
on the lease system were carried on in Henzada (then part of Myanaung)
District. In 1865 Revenue Rules for the whale British Burma were issued,
They include the following: "Every circle and every village tract has a distinct
boundary, The paddy lands of each village tract are divided into portions of
country called pyeng* or queng,* each bearing a distinctive name, and these
constitute the smallest portions upon which separate rate of assessment will,
for the present be fixed. The rate of assessment per acre will vary in amount
according to the fertility of the soil, the situation of the land, the average local
price of grain, and facility for intercourse with markets. List of these rates are
to be retained in the office of the Deputy Commissioner and in the office of the
Myook of the township within which the circle is situated. Gardens, orchards
and miscellaneous cultivation will, in the several districts of the Pegu and
Arakan Divisions, pay for each acre the highest annual rate put upon paddy
land in the same circle."
* I.e., Kwin.
HENZADA DISTRICT 145
"All land left fallow will be charged at. the rate of two annas an acre per
annum to the owners."
"Land under taungya cultivation in the hill circles of the Pegu Division will
not be assessed by measurement. In the districts of RangoOn, Bassein and
Myanaung, each male engaged in the cultivation of taungya land will pay a tax
of one rupee per annum, without reference to the area of the land he tills, or the
number of plantations cultivated."
Four annas were levied on each-matured fruit tree not included in a holding
assessed to revenue. Procedure for dealing with application for remissions was
prescribed. Thus the granting of a fallow rate and remissions for failure of
crops were part of the British revenue system at a very early date. In 1867-68
Lieutenant St. John was in charge of the settlement operations on the "lease"
system m Henzada District. The rates on rice land then varied roughly from
one to two rupees per acre. He went over about forty four circles, comprising
almost the whole of the present district except Kyangin' Township, altering the
kwin rates, but only very slightly, where he thought necessary, and leasing
lands which had not yet been leased. The local prices he found in Henzada
south and east of the Ngawun river varied from Rs. 40 to Rs. 70 per 100 eight
gallon baskets or Rs. 45 to Rs. 79 per 100 standard baskets. A cultivator
sometimes tried to get the lease issued in his own name in order to set up a title
to the land though it was not really his. At that time a great deal of sesamum
was grown chiefly on lands now cultivated with tobacco, maize, etc. Whole
kwins were leased in all cases of kwin leases. In each of these kwin leases all
the owners were made jointly responsible for the payment of the land revenue.
Leases to individuals were made for ten or three years. He found the
"individual lease" everywhere preferred to the "kwin lease"
The need for a cadastral survey of the province now began to be urged. In
1876 the Land and Revenue Act became law and in 1879 the Government of
India gave its sanction to a field to field (not a mere holding) storey and the
Boundary Act was passed to facilitate demarcation. Henzada was one of the
two districts in which any consider able area was still held under lease in 1878-
79. Meanwhile in 1879 a summary enhancement of revenue was made in the
district on the ground of the rise of the price of rice and the improvement of
cultivation and the rates then varied from about Rs. 1-4-0 to Rs. 2-2-0 per acre
on rice land but the maximum rate on gardens continued to be Rs. 2. In 1880
the Directions to Settlement Officers were issued prescribing the taking of a
share of the net produce (gross produce less cost of cultivation and cost of
living) instead of the gross and the system of the settlement laid down in
section 26 of the Revenue Act (1876) was ignored and the fallow rate was
abolished. In 1882 however with the approval of the Government of India the
fallow rate was restored and changes were made in the rules regarding
remission. The new eadastral
HENZADA DISTRICT 147
survey had begun in, 1879-80 preceded by the necessary demarcation of kwins,
village sites and grazing grounds.
In 1883-84 the first modern settlement of Henzada District, which did not
then include Lemyethna Township, was begun by Mr. Bridges. In that year in
Henzada District he settled only a few circles* in the extreme south and
proposed rates varying from As. 12 to Rs. 2-12-0 for rice land and a rate of Rs.
2-8-0 for gardens and miscellaneous cultivation. The Local Government
accepted these as maximum rates but imposed slightly lower rates. In 1884 -
1886 Mr. W. T. Hall settled the rest of the district. The area under cultivation
was found to have enormously in creased in the last twenty years having more
than doubled itself and the land revenue had increased to a corresponding
extent. This was due principally to the protection afforded by the construction
of the Kyangin, Myanaung, Ngawun and Irrawaddy embankments. He
proposed rates varying from As. 12 to gs 2-10-0 for rice land and from Rs. 2 to
Rs. 2-8-0 for garden land and rates of Re. 1 and As. 4 for miscellaneous
cultivation and solitary fruit trees respectively ann these were approved and
imposed by the Local Government for a term of fifteen years. The method
adopted was to group together kwins of the same fertility into various soil
tracts (which were not therefore as a rule self contained blocks) and to group
them again according to their local prices of unhusked rice and combine these
two sets of groups to form assessment tracts over each of which the same rates
for rice land were proposed. The rates proposed were based on the value of the
net produce (value of gross outturn less cost of cultivation and cost of living)
and approximate to half of it.
The first revision settlement was conducted by Mr. J. MacKenna and took
place in the years 1899-1901. In the former he settled nearly all the Henzada
Subdivision and three circles of Bassein District (Daunggyi, Kwingyaing and
Bodawkani) and in the latter the whole of the Myanaung Subdivision and four
circles (Apyauk, Yin E North, Yin E South and Hlezeik) of Henzada
Subdivision. The occupied area was found to have increased about 25 per cent
since settlement. The system oftracting employed was the same as
as that adopted in 1883 --1886. Very few changes were made in the soil tracts
but considerable changes in the price tracts. The standard of assessment
adopted was a quarter of the value of the net produce (i.e., of the gross produce
less the cost of cultivation but not the cost of living). The rates proposed by the
Revision Settlement Officer were accepted with a few modifications by the
Local Government and imposed for fifteen years some with effect from the 1st
of July 1901 and others with effect from the 1st July 1902. Those imposed on
rice land varied from As. 12 to Rs. 4: those on gardens from Rs. 2 to Rs. 3:
those on miscellaneous cultivation from Rs. 1-8-0 to Rs. 2-8-0; and the rates
fixed on betel vine yards and solitary fruit trees were Rs. 10 per acre and As. 4
per mature trees respectively.
The effect of these settlements has been a gradual increase of revenue but
the last, that of 1912-1914, has moved the burden of its payment from the
poorest to the moderately rich and the richest lands. The following table
HENZADA DISTRICT 149
shows the increase in area assessed to and gross demand of land revenue
proper from 1891-92 to 1900-01. The figures for subsequent years are given in
Table XIII. Volume B:
There has thus been a steady increase. The sudden rise to over 11 lakhs in
the revenue demand in 1901-02 and to over 12 lakhs in 1902-03 is due to the
introduction of the rates sanctioned after tile first revision settlement in 1899-
1901. After that year the assumed area and demand again show a gradual
increase due to the extension of cultivation and increase in population. The
rates proposed by the Revision Settlement Officer in 1912-1914, it accepted,
will raise the land revenue proper (excluding cess) to about Rs. 18,30,000.
From the earliest days after the annexation of 1852 the British Government
endeavored to fix the land tenures, to extend and improve the agriculture of the
district and to lessen the heavy mortality of cattle. After much discussion the
tenures were reduced to legal form in the Land Revenue Act of 1876 (see
Chapter IV). The unoccupied land being at the disposal of Government the
problem of extension
* This figure should be larger as the area under miscellaneous crops was
omitted from the returns.
HENZADA DISTRICT 150
resolved itself into two parts, the reclamation of the land and the attraction of
settlers. The former was successfully dealt with by the construction of
embankments (see Chapter IV); the latter was not a difficult one when the
former had been successfully attacked as immigrants came in great numbers
from Prome, Tharrawaddy, Thayetmyo and Upper Burma whenever the
embankments were seen to afford the necessary protection from floods. In
1861 and 1865 rules had been framed for the grant of waste land and in 1863
rules for its sale but no such grants or sales were made in Henzada District
though a great many were made under the ordinary revenue rules, under which
even the thugyi of the circle could grant 5 acres, especially in Okpo (Ingabu)
and Zalun Townships. In 1873-74 a scheme of State Immigration from Bengal
was made" and resulted in the introduction into Burma of some thousands of
persons. In January 1876 a Labour Contract Law was passed and in 1877-78,
758 persons were conveyed at the expense of Government from the depot at
Coconada to Rangoon. Those did not immediately find employment however
and the scheme proved a failure. A subsidy granted to the steamship companies
between 1881 and 1884 gave better results. To improve agriculture the
Government distributed seed in 1873-74 and began to hold agricultural shows.
Egyptian cotton was tried, in the district in the game year but did not succeed
owing partly to unsuitability of soil and partly to improper treatment. On
Christmas Day, 1874, an Agricultural show was held in Henzada but does not
seem to have been a striking success. In 1881-82 the Land Revenue and
Agricultural Department was formed and trial of Kaisar and other ploughs and
implements were made and model farms were set up. Mr, Cabaniss, * a
Virginian planter, was engaged to introduce a better cultivation and curing of
tobacco and introduced the American system of drying into the district and
four special grants in the neighbourhood of Myanaung were sanctioned by the
Chief Commissioner for experimental cultivation. These activities however
had little effect on the agriculture of the district. About this time the revenue
rates on tobacco were reduced in order to encourage its cultivation.
In the early days after the annexation the mortality of cattle, especially
buffaloes, was very great but Henzada District was fortunate in that by 1868
cattle disease had "ceased to be a scourge" and after that only small epidemics
broke out from time to time (see Chapter IV). Government took up the matter
at a very early date and in 1873-74 employed a veterinary surgeon, Mr. Sartin,
to show the people how to fight cattle disease which was usually ascribed to
want of shelter and bad water, and a veterinary class was formed in Rangoon.
In 1876 Mr. Frost was appointed Veterinary Surgeon. The members of the
class after training were sent out into the districts as his assistants in 1885-86
they numbered 23. This was the beginning of the Civil Veterinary Department
which now looks after the cattle of the province and has introduced
segregation, inoculation and other methods of treating their diseases, such as
rudderpost, anthrax and foot and mouth disease. There are now five veterinary
assistants in the district.
The other important points in the land administration may best be shown
chronologically. In 1880-81 the existence of much land so poor that it had to
be regularly fallowed was brought to notice and the people were thenceforward
encouraged to apply for fallow rates for such land. In this decade the question
of tenant occupancy began to be prominent but it was not till 1891-92 that a
Tenancy Bill for the protection of tenants against landlords and an Agricultural
Relief Bill for the protection of landowners against money lenders were drafted
and circulated for comment and even then the Chief Commissioner did not
consider these matters to be urgent. Meanwhile speculators had been taking
advantage of fallow rates to leave lands uncultivated which they had no
intension of using themselves and steps were taken to assess such lands at full
rates with the result that many of them were permanently relinquished. In
1894-95 in pursuance of the policy of Government revenue circles in the
district were for the first time broken up and the task of collecting the land
revenue given over to village headmen. The introduction of the cadastral
survey necessitated training of surveyors and even in 1883 a survey school was
established in Henzada. In 1898-99 the Record Room was completed. In the
same year application
152 HENZADA DISTRICT
for fallow rates was under certain circumstances dispensed with a great boon to
the poorer cultivators. In 1899-1900 survey on a large scale 64 inches to the
mile was introduced into the towns of the district, Zalun, Lemyethna and
Henzada being treated first. The Lower Burma Town and Village Lands Act
had been passed in 1898.
Capitation-tax was introduced from the annexation of 1852 but its effect
was watched very carefully as it was admitted to be open to theoretical
objections. The rates were Rs. 4 for married men and Rs. 2 for widowers and
bachelors but about 1862 these rates were raised to Rs. 5 and Rs. 2-8-0
respectively for the richer past of the district and rates of Rs. 2 and Re. 1
respectively were levied in the hills. There were a good many immigrants in
early days especially from Upper Burma as much of the land was still
uncultivated and immigrants were exempted for five years after arrival from
capitation-tax and tickets of exemption were given them in order to hasten the
development of the district. In the town of Myanaung however a land rate was
levied instead of capitation-tax. In 1866-67 the rates were 1½ pies per square
foot on land covered with buildings and Rs. 3 per acre on land not covered and
produced Rs. 5,245. It continued till 1873-74 when it was abolished in favour
of capitation-tax in Myanaung town just after the removal of the headquarters
of the district to Henzada. In 1893-94 land rate in lieu of capitation-tax was
instituted in Henzada Town. Capitation-tax was at first unpopular but by 1881-
82 the people had become reconciled to it. At the time of the annexation of
Upper Burma there was a little difficulty in collecting this tax and a few
persons were imprisoned for default of payment but the difficulty was not so
great as in some other districts notably the neighbouring district of Bassein. In
Henzada District the rapid development of agriculture due to the construction
of embankments and other causes attracted very many immigrants and so there
were many exempted. Another feature of the tax returns was the large number
of persons shown as teachers. In 1887-88 immigrants from Upper Burma and
the Shan States ceased to be exempted from capitation-tax and the term of
exemption of immigrants from other countries was reduced from five years to
two. In 1901-02 the issue of exemption tickets was abolished and ward
headmen appointed under the Lower Burma Towns Act of 1892 were
exempted from capitation -tax but it was not found practicable to exempt them
from land rate in lieu thereof. The following table shows the collections of
capitation-tax and land rate in lieu thereof in the district from 1891-92 to 1900-
01.
154 HENZADA DISTRICT
Collection of
Rs. Rs.
The decrease in the collections under the land rate is partly due to erosion
of the town by the Irrawaddy river.
Tables XII and XIII, Vol. B, show the growth of the revenue obtained by
capitation-tax and land revenue in lieu thereof from 1901-02. There has been a
gradual increase, which was to be expected considering the growth of the
population (see page 33), except in the years 1905-06, 1906-07 and 1907-08.
The collections were usually promptly made. It was noticed that headmen in
order to be punctual were in the habit of paying some of the tax out of their
own pockets before actually collecting it and this practice was accordingly
discouraged.
Fishery Revenue.
Under Burmese rule revenue was obtained from fisheries and many of the
smaller fisheries appear to have been in the hands of persons called in thugyis
whose title to them was hereditary. In the early years after the annexation the
revenue from leased inland fisheries and licenses for fishing implements used
on the Irrawaddy river was already considerable. Under the British
administration of fisheries speculators were excluded and leases given
HENZADA DISTRICT 155
to local men selected by the Deputy Commissioner and care was taken to
preserve for the inhabitants of the neighbour hood the abundance and
cheapness of this important article of their diet. The fisheries were made as
small as possible so that poor people could lease them. Many small fisheries
were not leased at all but left for the free use of the people. No adequate
provision however was made for the preservation of fish. This system of
leasing fisheries was not quite satisfactory, however, and there were numerous
complaints and appeals. A special report on the fisheries of Burma was written
in 1869 by Dr. Day. He gives an interesting account of his visit to the district:-
"At Myanaung the people pay a small sum yearly in some parts, to be
allowed to take fish to make their own ngapi. * The Deputy Commissioner at
the letting enquires what every one will give, and having. ascertained the
amount offered above that now received, he divides it into half, and having
added the moiety to the last year's rent, he generally offers it to the former
lessee at this increased rate. To ensure the villagers not being losers he insists
on the lessee permitting them to take smaller shares in the fiishery. Sometimes
there is difficulty when two classes, as Burmese and Karens, live in the vicinity
of a fishery, the Burmese refusing the Karens a share, or the Karens acting in
the same way to the Burmese. On such occasions it is proposed to give it on
alternate lettings to each race. Here of late years the number of fishermen have
largely increased, and more individuals live exclusively upon the fisheries than
used to be the case.
* Fish paste.
† Burman magistrate and revenue officer.
156 HENZADA DISTRICT
and augmented mouths to prey upon the captures. As regards the question of
protecting the fry, he could not see the use of it. He admitted if the young of
human beings, cows, buffaloes and goats were destroyed, we must have fewer
adults, but he remarked "fish are not animals (!) and we could not see what
became of their young because they lived in the water; the Burmese never
protected the fry, therefore there could be no necessity for doing so." Pointing
out that by using minute meshed nets, 200 fish as now captured only furnish a
meal for one person, whereas if left two months more they might feed 20, he
seemed partially satisfied, but of a sudden triumphantly observed "Some fish
never grow large, how would you manage to use them as food ?" I remarked if
they were not the young of the larger species, they served them as food. He
proposed-deferring discussion until the next day, when he would bring some
fishermen with him, and he should have had more time to think over the
subject. The next day the fishermen disagreed with the Myook and asserted the
present small size of the mesh of nets ought to be prohibited; that fish have
decreased even during the past few years, but their plan of increasing the food
would be for Government to give up the fishing rents and net licenses. They
and the Myook thought fisheries ought to be leased for five years, as it would
be a great saving of expense to the lessees if they had a longer occupation.
River fishermen obtain, they asserted, from l½ to 2½ rupees daily working
their large nets; some very fine fish are captured in the Irrawaddy, and these
must require many small ones as food."
He came to the conclusion that the time had now arrived to regulate the
size of mesh of nets and implements such as baskets and weirs especially in the
quiet pools of water alongside rivers. He summarizes his proposals as follows:-
"To let by auction all (except reserved) pieces of fresh water as fisheries to
the highest bidder, provided (with exceptional cases) he is a fisherman residing
within four miles of the fishery for which he bids; that by degrees, five years'
leases be introduced; that river fishermen may still obtain licenses to use nets
and at present rates from the lessee; that anyone may angle for fish in any piece
of water and do what he pleases with his captures; that
HENZADA DISTRICT 157
netting and trapping fish except in free creeks is the property of the lessees;
that a mesh of one inch between knot and knot of nets and substances forming
weirs be the smallest size permitted, the only exceptions being in tanks that
yearly dry up and after all communication with running water has ceased, and
small weirs for taking prawns; that bunding rivers for fishing purposes be
absolutely prohibited; that an officer with magisterial powers and having two
assistants be placed in charge of the fresh water fisheries of British Burma."
In 1872 a new system was introduced "under which all. fisheries with but
few exceptions" were "to be let for a term of five years by public auction to the
highest bidders above an upset price provided the bidders hold certificates
signed by the Deputy Commissioner to the effect that they are qualified to bid
at such auctions, the qualification being that they are fishermen and residing
near the particular fishery for which they are allowed to bid." This arrangement
relieved District Officers of the duty of selecting individuals as lessees and
also enabled the utmost value to be obtained from the fishery and it was hoped
that the" corruption, intrigue and consequent litigation" which had hitherto
prevailed would cease. In 1873-74 the result was favourably reported on in the
district and several small fisheries formerly leased were given over to the
people for watering their cattle. The fishery revenue showed signs of decline
about this time which was said to be due to the destruction of fisheries by the
construction of the embankments. A decrease in the revenue from net licenses
in 1876-77 was explained by a decrease in the number of fishermen who came
from Upper Burma to catch hilsa and the removal of five kinds of nets from the
list of licensed implements. In 1875 the separation of Danubyu Township
caused a great diminution in the fisheries of the district. In that year the Burma
Fisheries Act was passed. Fresh difficulties soon rose to hamper its
administration. It is reported in 1880-81 that "No adequate means exist for
testing the value of a fishery, except putting it up to auction; and if it is put up
to auction the speculative propensities of the Burman are very apt to lead to an
exaggerated price being offered for it. With a complete survey and exhaustive
report on the divisions and customs of each
158 HENZADA DISTRICT
Maxwell finished his inquiries into the fisheries of the Thongwa, Myaungmya
and Bassein Districts and recommended the Government-
The following table shows the collection of fishery revenue in the district
from 1891-92 to 1900-01:-
Year. Fishery
revenue.
Rs.
1891-92 1,05,108
1892-93 1,24,970
1893-94 1,26,203
1894-95 1,08,872
1895-96 97,233
1996-97 1,12,383
1897-98 1,24,576
1898-99 1,52,696
1899-1900 1,61,982
1900-01 1,67,551
Tables XII and XIII, Vol. B, show the changes in fishery revenue from
1901-02 to the present day. In spite of the Deputy Commissioner's opinion
quoted above there has been a large increase in revenue due mostly perhaps to
the general increase in the population and prosperity of the district. In 1902-03
the fishery rules were modified so as to exempt some of the smaller and less
destructive fishing nets from taxation. In January 1905 a new Fisheries Act
(No. III of 1905) was passed and rules were framed under it which are still in
force.
Stamp revenue.
There were no stamps under Burmese rule. In the early days after the
annexation the stamp revenue was made up chiefly from stamps unused in civil
suits and for law papers. Few postage stamps were sold and it was reported that
"the natives seldom or never" used the "post." In 1867 the Stamp Act and in
160 HENZADA DISTRICT
1870 the Court-fees Act became law but did not lead at once to an increase of
revenue owing to a decrease in the number of the suits instituted. Government
recognized that much revenue was lost through the defective machinery
employed for the sale of stamps added to much ignorance of the provisions. of
the Stamp Act. Measures were now taken to increase the places of vend and
circle thugyis were given licenses to sell stamps in 1877-78. A new Stamp Act
was passed in 1879. In 1884-85 and the two following years the Commissioner
of Excise was in charge of the stamp administration. At that time there were
many circle thugyis selling stamps throughout the Henzada District. In 1886-
87 postmasters were required to keep a stock of receipt and general stamps. In
the same year the Commissioner of Excise and Stamps was abolished. In 1892-
93, 44 out of the 47 circle thugyis in the district had been licensed to sell
stamps. The following table shows the gross receipts, gross charge and net
receipts of general and court-fee stamps in the district from 1892-93 to 1900-
01. For the subsequent years Tables XII and XIV, Volume B, give the gross
receipts only:-
1908, was not so great as in the preceding one. The causes alleged were the
entry of plague into the province and unfavourable agricultural seasons. From
1906-07 the revenue began to decline which has been ascribed to the
curtailment of their transactions on the part of chetties and the agrarian policy
of Government in the assumption of land from the hands of non-agriculturists.
In 1909-10 telegraph stamps were abolished and the Stamp Act and Court fees
Act were amended by Acts VI and VII of 1910 respectively. The policy of
appointing village headmen as vendors except in large and important villages
was recognized to be futile. In 1910-11 a salaried vendor in the district
defaulted to the extent of Rs. 6,417 and was convicted. In 1911-12 further
slight amendments were made in the laws regarding stamps. The gross revenue
in recent years appears to have varied little from a lakh of rupees.
There was no income tax under Burmese rule. It was in force in the district
in 1864-65 but was abolished in the following year and was not levied again
till 1869. In 1867-68 the license tax was imposed for the first time and yielded
very little. It was most unpopular. Next year the certificate tax was introduced
and also proved to be unremunerative and unpopular. In 1869 income tax was
restored but in reviewing the revenue of the year 1869-70 the Chief
Commissioner advised the abolition of the tax as being ill adapted to the
circumstances of the province. The rate had been raised in 1870-71 to 3½ per
cent and the minimum income taxed was Rs. 500, but in 1871-72 the rate was
lowered to 1 1/24 per cent and the minimum income raised to Rs. 750 and this
caused a decrease in the revenue. A new Act was passed in 1873 by which the
rate was unaltered but the minimum income raised to Rs. 1,000, but the tax
was abolished on the 31st March 1873. In 1886 the Income Tax Act (No. II of
1886) was passed but the tax was not really introduced into Lower Burma till
April 1888 and then it was levied on the general public in the district only in
the towns of Henzada, Zalun, Myanaung, Kyangin and Le myethna and the
total demand was a little over Rs. 4,000. Under the provisions of the Act
incomes of less than Rs. 500 yearly were exempt from income tax. Assessment
was extended gradually to other towns. The first seven towns to be assessed
were Henzada, Zalun, Myanaung, Lemyethna,
HENZADA DISTRICT 163
Kyangin, Okpo (Ingabu) and Kanaung. The following table shows the
collections from 1891-92 till 1900-01: for subsequent years they are given in
Table XII, Volume B:-
Numberof
towns and
Collections. villages in
Years. which the Remarks.
tax was
assessed.
Rs.
1891-92 11,248 7
1892-93 11,736 7
1893-94 11,023 12 Myoma, Myomayat,
Hlegyiaing, Taungyat
and Mezaligon added.
1894-95 10,096 12
1895-96 9,786 12
1896-97 10,680 12
1897-98 18,077 12
1898-99 24,077 12
1899-1900 24,501 13 Daunggyi town added.
1900-01 23,375 14
Excise revenue.
only. Salt is treated of separately on page 156. The principle of the British
excise administration was to obtain as large a revenue as was compatible with
the least consumption of liquor, spirit and drugs and to keep the desire for them
from spreading from the coast towns into the interior. No revenue was derived
from opium and all the provincial revenue in the district was really derived
from toddy (fermented palm juice) as that produced by other liquor was given
to Municipal funds. The district was then on a simple footing with regard to
excise as the people were content with toddy and had not learned to like
European liquor and spirit. Thus there were five toddy shops at Myanaung in
1865-66 and two in 1866-67. Gradually the consumption of the latter and of
opium increased, however. In 1870-71 opium, ganja and arrack farms were
established in the Myanaung District and the revenue therefore increased. The
price paid by the farmers to Government for their opium was Rs. 24 a seer. The
year 1871-72 was the last in which the Excise Department * was worked under
the farming system which consisted indisposing of the monopoly to sell the
drugs or spirits in large tracts of country to one person, or company, under
certain restrictions. On the 1st of April 1872, Act X of 1871, the Excise Act,
was brought into force in this province, and under its provisions rules have
been drawn up by the Local Administration authorizing the disposal of the
privilege to sell spirits and drugs on the "fixed duty" system, whereby a certain
amount of duty is levied on the actual quantity of the spirit or drug which
passes into consumption, and a license fee from the right to open a shop for the
retail vend of the duty paid article; and also on the "monthly tax" system, under
which the holder of an outstill license agrees to pay a certain amount of tax for
each month covered by his license, without reference to the actual quantity of
the spirituous or fermented liquor, or drug which he may sell. The former
system has been introduced wherever possible, but in some instances it has
been found necessary to license outstills in the interior of districts under the
monthly tax system. An exception has been made in respect to the disposal of
licenses for the sale of fermented tari or toddy, which may, with the previous
sanction of the Chief Commissioner, be sold by auction for
any defined tract of country." The new system thus introduced led to a great
increase in revenue. In 1872-73 two opium shops one at Henzada and one at
Myanaung were licensed for the sale of opium. and continued to be for nine
years. The revenue on country spirits was at that time levied on the outstill
system, as no central distilleries had yet been constructed, and in Henzada
District, which at that time included Tharrawaddy, there were eight outstills
licensed in that year but only five the year following. There were a great many
toddy shops. In this year 23 more village licenses for toddy were granted, the
Deputy Commissioner remarking that "the multiplication of shops for the sale
of the national beverage is advisable as tending to keep down a taste for
distilled liquors." A central distillery for distilling spirit by the native method
was erected. at Henzada in 1874-75 but proved a failure. In 1876-77 the large
increase in the spread of the consumption of opium in Henzada District was
noticeable in spite of its having an almost purely Barman and Karen
population. Smuggling too had already become a difficult problem in
administration. Licenses for the sale of "khoung" * were about this time
regularly issued in the district but the revenue derived therefrom showed signs
of decrease caused, it was believed, by the Chins and other residents in the
hills having acquired a taste for other stimulants.
In 1878 a new Opium Act (I of 1878) was passed and by the rules framed
under it in 1879 the number of tolas of opium which could be sold at one time
was reduced from five to three. The issue of licenses for outstills for country
spirits was discontinued in the district in 1878-79 and the licensed shop at
Henzada sold spirit obtained from a central distillery at Bassein which however
was abolished at the end of the year 1886-87. It was reopened in 1889-90. In
1881 a new Excise Act was passed. By it fresh toddy ceased to be a fermented
liquor the sale of which had to be licensed and rigorous imprisonment was
introduced as a punishment for breaches of the excise laws. By it also the
possession of ganja was made illegal but for some years previous its sale and
importation into the province had been forbidden. In 1881-82 the opium shop
at Myanaung was discontinued,
* A fermented liquor made from rice and used by the Chins called "pachwai"
in Bengal
166 HENZADA DISTRICT
only one license being given for the district in accordance with the policy of
the Government to reduce the number of shops all over the country the number
in Lower Burma fell from 68 in 1880-81 to 18 in 1882-83 and in 1881-82 the
price of opium sold by Government to licensed vendors was raised from Rs. 28
to Rs. 32 a seer, but this policy, it was found, did not lessen either consumption
of smuggling. The worst phase of the illicit traffic was that opium was secretly
sold in villages many miles from a licensed shop and even in districts where no
shop existed. In 1885 Mr. Copleston took charge of the new post of Excise
Commissioner of the province. The opium system at this time was much
criticised and alternatives were discussed. In March 1885 the Opium Rules
were so altered as to render penal the sale of opium by any but the licensed
vendors and the possession of even the smallest quantity of the drug, unless
obtained from a licensed vendor, was made a punishable offence. Illicit
distillation of spirit was thought to be common in the district about this time.
Nevertheless the net revenue derived from excise and opium in the district
steadily increased from Rs. 74,174 in 1878-79 to Rs. 1,86,242 in 1883-84 after
which there was a decline due to a diminution in sales of opium owing to
stricter control. It fell to Rs. 1,39,223 in 1885-86 but quickly recovered and in
1890-91 reached the high figure of Rs. 2,68,693. In 1886-87 the rules framed
under the Excise Act of 1881 came into force but contained no radical change
in policy. In the same year the Commissionership of Excise was abolished
owing to financial stringency. In 1889-90 the policy of having as few opium
shops as possible the number has fallen to 15 in 1887-88 was abandoned, as it
was found to have failed to materially reduce the consumption of opium, and
five new shops were opened but none of them were in Henzada District where
there was still only one shop. In 189-92 revised rules were issued under the
Opium Act of 1878. The principal changes mane were the prohibition of all
dealings in adulterated opium and consumption of opium in any form in the
premises of licensed shops. In the same year two important seizures of
smuggled opium were made in the district, one of 1,600 tolas on board the
"Alguada" while at anchor at Henzada and another of 1,200 tolas on board a
boat proceeding up stream from Henzada.
HENZADA DISTRICT 167
In 1890 Lemyethna Township had been added to the district and the excise
revenue increased in 1891-92 to Rs. 2,71,224. The following table shows the
revenue from that year till 1900-01; the figures for the subsequent years are
given in Tables XII and XIV, Volume B. The figures given up to 1900-01 are
net revenue; those given in Table XII are gross receipts less fines, etc.:-
Year. Revenue.
Rs.
1891-92 2,71,224
1892-93 3,28,306
1893-94 2,24,306
1894-95 1,38,595
1895-96 1,20,382
1896-97 99,476
1897-98 1,43,856
1898-99 1,29,850
1899-1900 1,42,454
1900-01 1,33,317
* A mixture of pure opium and refuse opium collected from pipes which have
been smoked.
168 HENZADA DISTRICT
were so modified as to allow the use of "beinchi "* as its prohibition caused
undue hardship to the poorer classes of consumers, especially Chinese. It was
decided that Burmans who desired might register themselves and be permitted
to use opium but that to all other Burmans the possession of opium should be a
penal offence, and to carry out these and other changes new Opium
Regulations were framed which came into force on the 1st January 1894. The
Annual Excise Reports about this time give short accounts of the system in
vogue in the province during the year. The registers of Burman opium
consumers were opened on the 1st February 1893 and closed on the 30th June
1894. In 1896 a new Excise Act (XII of 1896) was passed. About 1897-98 the
use of morphia, originally adopted as a cure for the opium habit, was found to
be spreading. No special excise staff such as was kept up in other districts from
1895 was established in Henzada District. A large seizure of over 10.000 tolas
of sumggled opium was how ever made in 1899-1900 in a Burmese boat off
Kanaung. In 1901-02 power was given to village headmen to deal with
drunkenness under section 510, Indian Penal Code.
which it declined to Rs. 3,72,219 in 1907-08 and then rose again to Rs.
4,40,944 in 1913-14. A further important change was made in 1904-05 with
good results by which in order to stop the hawking of opuim bought in the
licensed shops the amount of opium sold to a consumer was restricted to the
probable amount of his consumption. In the same year the possession of
cocaine was prohibited except under license or special exemption but new
drugs such as eucaine, novocain and veronal were introduced into the province.
The appointment of Excise Commissioner was revived on the 1st of May 1906.
In 1908-09 the first local excise committee in Henzada was appointed. In
1910-11 Magistrates were required to report to the Superintendent of Excise
for inquiry all cases of crime caused by drunkness. Of late years the
consumption of opium does not seem to have increased but other drugs have
unfortunately taken its place to an alarming extent in spite of the preaching in
the district of monks like the Ledi Saya. In 1912-13 the con tract distillery
system was introduced into the Henzada Township, a contract being made with
Messrs. Dyer & Co., Mandalay, to supply the beer and the license for country
beer being withdrawn. There is still great difference of opinion as to the best
excise policy, some advocating the extension and others the restriction of
facilities for obtaining liquor. The following table shows the excise
arrangements in the district in the years 1891-92, 1901-02 and 1911-12:-
to be drunk on the pr emises
be sold by auction.
spirit-at fixed fee.
Year.
auction.
auction.
auction.
1891-92 3 8 10 55 1
170 HENZADA DISTRICT
Number of shops licensed to sell retail.
Pharmacists, doctors
Year.
and tattooers.
Special.
Retail.
Tari.*
1901-02 2 10 18 7 1 1 22
Year.
Other than tari.
tattooers.
Morphia.
Cocaine
Retail.
Tari.
1911-12 5 52 29 5 16 2 1
Salt Revenue.
Little revenue was derived from salt under Burmese rule but each salt
worker paid so much. In the early days after the annexation salt was
manufactured to a very small extent in the Kyangin and Kanaung Townships
was of bad quality and yielded an insignificant amount of revenue. Thus in
1876-77 the revenue was only Rs. 43 and it was reported that the local salt
industry was declining because of large importations of foreign salt paying the
small import duty of 3 annas per maund. Generally speaking foreign salt was
used for domestic purposes and the local article for fish curing but foreign salt
was used too for fish curing. In 1882-83 the salt production in the district was
obtained from six salt licks at the foot of the Arakan hills which were worked
from December to April. The license fee was one rupee per cauldron, the
estimated annual outturn about 31,400 viss and the revenue derived was Rs.
50. No salt was manufactured in 1887-88 on account of the disturbances which
followed the annexation of Upper Burma. In January 1888 the duty on
imported salt was raised to one rupee a maund and an impetus was therefore
given to the local manufacture, but soserious was the decrease of import that
Mr. Ashton of the Nothern India Salt Department was deputed to inquire. He
advocated the complete or partial suppression of the local manufacture or the
increase of the composition duty but the only measure taken by the Local
Government was the increase of the excise assessment. In 1888-89 the salt
revenue demand in the district rose to Rs. 104. In 1890 the manufacture of salt
was wholly prohibited in the district. There were occasional prosecutions in the
district for infringements of the laws regarding salt but the illegal manufacture
was on a very small scale and the Deputy Commissioner considered the
prosecution to be rather hard on the people. In 1897 it was remarked that
Henzada District was supplied almost entirely by foreign salt obtained from
Rangoon the price per maund varying roughly from Rs. 2 to Rs. 2-8-0; in that
and the previous year and it was proposed to allow the manufacture of salt as
the temptation to use the well known saliferous springs of the district was so
great, but the proposal was not accepted by the Local Government. Thence
forward the district is little concerned with the salt administration except with
regard to price. The wholesale price of salt was much affected by the rivalry
between British and German importers and the local price was care fully
recorded every year in order to see whether local salt was tending to drive out
the imported article. The difficulty in administration was due to the fact that
the duty on salt locally produced could not be levelled up to the duty imposed
on imported salt (one rupee per maund) without killing the local industry. In
1907 Messrs. Wingate and Thurley were employed in making inquiries into the
salt indutry in Burma and on their report a policy was adopted
172 HENZADA DISTRICT
which resulted in the still further suppression of the local industry. In 1912 the
salt excise establishment was amalga mated with the excise establishment
proper and put under the control of the Excise Commissioner.
Forest Revenue.
There was little forest revenue under Burmese rule and it was mostly
derived from minor products like bees wax and elephant tusks. In the early
days after the annexation the only forest revenue was derived from the issue of
licences to collect bees was and was a trifling amount, only Rs. 457 for
instance for the whole of Myanaung District in 1866-67. There was a gradual
decline in revenue owing to extension of forest reserves within which no
collection of bees wax was allowed. The Forest Department began work in
1872 but it was not till 1893-94 that the first reserve in the district, the
Myanaung Reserve, was settled and notified. The district now began for the
first time to assume some importance in forest administration and in 1894-95
the western forest division of the Pegu Circle was divided and Henzada
District made into a new forest division together with Thongwa District. In
1895-96 the revenue derived from this division (nearly all of which came from
the forest of Henzada District) was Rs. 30,561, but the expenditure was almost
as much so that only Rs. 3,859 was left as surplus. The surplus, however,
rapidly increased as years went on. More reserves were gradually made but fire
protection was not introduced till 1900. In 1906-07 owing to the formation of
Pyapon District the boundaries of the division were changed so as to include
the two districts of Henzada and Ma-u-bin only, 558 square miles of reserves
and 150 square miles of unreserved forest being thus taken away from the
division. In 1899-1900 the surplus fell to Rs. 2,315. Table VIII, Volume B
shows the extent of the forests in the division which is practically the same as
the Henzada District because there are no forests in Ma-u-bin District and their
revenue and expenditure from 1901-02 onwards. The fluctuations are very
great and depend chiefly on the state of the timber market and the number of
logs floated down the Irrawaddy river. The striking increase in 1904-05 is
explained thus: "Extraction of teak by both Government Agency and by
purchasers was carried out on a much larger scale during this year. Improved
arrangements for drift timber gave unprecedented results in
HENZADA DISTRICT 173
the number of logs gathered into depots and the revenue derived thereunder.
The rains were favourable and extrac tion was therefore good." The decrease in
1906-07 was partly due to the opening of a new drift station at Talokmaw in
Prome Division. The increase in 1912-13 was due to the extraction of teak by
licenee being temporarily thrown open to the public. It was closed in July 1914
so that the revenue should decline next year.
The administration of the forest revenue is very simple, as the reserves are
not yet worked for timber and no working plans have yet been put into
operation. Girdling is carried on only in unreserved forests thus 250 trees were
girdled in 1902-03 but their average girth was only 6 feet 11 inches as
compared with 8 feet 11 inches in the Pegu Division. Old hill clearings are
sown with teak. The duties of the forest officer consist chiefly in issuing
licences to traders in unreserved forests and especially in keeping a check on
the timber traffic on the Irrawaddy river as all the timber from Upper Burma
passes through the division and supervision must be exercised so that no stolen
timber may be rafted down to Rangoon. In unreserved forests there has been a
demand for pyinkado. In 1910-11 the kayin bamboo flowered and died over a
large area. In the same year the exhaustion of the ureserved forests was very
apparent and a five years scheme for the regular working of pyinkado and
other trees in the reserved forests was prepared by Mr. C. W. Allan, the officer
in charge of the division.
Miscellaneous Revenue.
Lease rents and premia for land and sand banks; Fees, rents and royalties
on minerals; Receipts under the Village Act; Survey fees;
in 1908-09 (see page 150) and the receipts from minerals by the speculation in
mining concessions, especially for oil, which began about the year 1908 (see
Chapter V, page 95).
CHAPTER XI.
The first cess instituted in Burma was 1 per cent cess on the Land Revenue,
for educational purposes, called the Educational Cess, which was first imposed
in 1854. The proceeds of this cess, together with the receipts from bazaars and
markets and the sale of licences for slaughter house and lorries, and fines, were
amalgamated to form the District Funs. The proceeds from these sources in the
im portant towns of Henzada, Myanaung, Kyangin, Kanaung and Zalun were
made into separate funds, and were called Town Funds. The District Fund was
expended tor the benefit of the district, outside these towns, and the Town
Funds were expended for the sole benefit of the respective towns to which they
belonged. All these funds were in charge of, and administered by, the Deputy
Commissioner.
In 1874 Henzada became a Municipality, and its Town Fund was merged
in the Municipal Fund, administered by the Municipal Committee. In the same
year, under the orders of the Government of India, the 1 per cent. Educa tional
Cess became merged in a new 5 per cent. Cess on the Land Revenue. It was
ordered that this new cess was to be expended approximately as follows:-
Besides the above 5 per cent cess on the Land Revenue the District Fund
also included the receipts from fishery taxes, sale of excise and slaughter house
licence, carriage and boat licences, ferry tolls, rent of fruit trees, receipts from
bazaars and markets and cattle pound fees and fines. The receipts of the Town
Funds included all the above
HENZADA DISTRICT 175
receipts from the areas of the respective towns, and also a post tax on the
houses in the towns. The expenditure of the Funds was divided amongst police,
Government cess and aided schools, district post, medical relief, bazaars and
markets, cattle pounds, landing stages, bungalows, conservancy, slaughter
houses, registration of vital statistics, public works, and miscellaneous.
In 1876, except in a few cases, the Town Funds were amalgamated with the
District Funds, but it was ordered that the receipts from areas which had
formerly possessed separate Town Funds should be as far as possible expended
in those areas. Myanaung was the only town in the Henzada District which was
left with a separate Town Fund. Under the Government of India's orders of
1874 the District Funds were classified as "Incorporated Local Funds," and the
Town Funds as "Excluded Local Funds."
The modern 10 per cent cess on the Land Revenue, which now a days
forms the basis of the District Cess Fund, was imposed in 1880 under the
District Cesses and Rural Police Act. From this time forward the District
Funds in Lower Burma have been known as "District Cess Funds." It was
ordered that the 10 per cent cess should be expended approximately as
follows:-
Since 1891 the old Rural Police have been gradually replaced by village
headmen appointed under the Village Act, and the expenditure of the District
Cess Fund under the head "Rural Police" has gradually decreased until it is
now insignificant. In 1892 the District Cess Funds were ordered to make
contributions to Municipal hospitals on account of patients from the district
who were heated at these institutions.
In 1898 the Henzada District Cess Fund got a windfall of Rs. 4,000 from
the Lemyethna Town Fund, this amount being handed over from the Town
Fund to the District Cess Fund by the orders of Government, because the
apathy of the Town Committee resulted in the hoarding of their income.
In 1906 the Postal department took charge of the District Post, and the
District Cess Fund was relieved of an annual charge of between Rs. 7,000 and
Rs. 8,000 under this head. In 1907 the District Cess Fund was relieved by
Government of all charges for auditing accounts, and of payment of the
commission paid to headmen for collecting the cess on the land revenue.
Owing to the fact that the District Cess Found had at various times been
relieved of its expenditure under certain heads, the old order prescribing the
manner in which the 10 per cent cess was to be spent had become a dead letter,
and in 1908, by an order of the Local Government, it was laid down that the
maximum percentages of the total income of the District Cess Found which
could be expended on the various objects were:-
At the same time the minimum closing balance of the different District
Cess Funds were fixed. The minimum balance of the Henzada District Cess
Fund was fixed at Rs. 35,000.
In 1908 the District Cess Funds were classified as "Excluded Local Funds"
instead of "Incorporated Local Funds," and are now shown under the same
head as the Municipal and Town Funds.
HENZADA DISTRICT 177
The administration of the District Cess Fund is entirely in the hands of the
.Government officials, the proposal to constitute District Committees, made in
1880, never having been carried into effect. It is concentrated in the District
Office, under the control of the Deputy Commissioner, who works through his
Subdivisional and Township Officers. The policy of the administration of the
District Cess Funds has been one of devolution. Thus in 1895 the entire control
of the Public Works Department Incorporated Local Fund Budgets was handed
over to Commissioners; in 1902 Commissioners were given power to sanction
any public works up to a limit of expenditure of Rs. 10,000; in 1907
Commissioners were given power to decide whether any particular work
should be done by the Public Works Department or by Civil Officers; in 1911
the power of sanctioning public works costing up to an amount of Rs. 5,000
was given to Deputy Commissioners; recently Subdivisional Officers were
empowered to accept contracts for the construction of public works, when the
expenditure involved did not exceed Rs. 2,000.
The activities of the District Cess Fund are shown by Table XV, Volume
B, which gives statements of the income and expenditure of the Fund since the
year 1901-02. Its chief source of revenue is, of course, the 10 per cent. cess on
the Land Revenue. Next in importance comes the income derived from the
lease of tolls and ferries, then that derived from bazaars it has built, then that
derived from the sale of slaughter house licences. The receipts from cattle
pound fees, sale proceeds of unclaimed cattle, and other sources are
fluctuating, the last occasionally including a grant made from Provincial Funds
for some special purpose.
form of local self government. As funds are available projects for improving
the sanitation and water supply of the towns and larger villages of the district
are undertaken; in particular in 1901 a complete system of unbricked drains
was constructed in the town of Okpo (now Ingabu). Of recent years a
considerable portion of the income has had to be expended on measures for
combating plague, and the expenditure has been so large that Provincial Funds
have been obliged to come to the aid of the District Cess Fund.
Most of its resources are, however, expended of public works, such as the
construction of dispensaries, schools, bazaars, markets, cattle pounds, slaughter
houses, wells, landing stages, rest houses, roads and bridges, and the keeping
open of communications. Until recently the Fund maintained a staff of one
supervisor and one overseer for carrying out these works, and they were mostly
constructed by its own staff or by unskilled local labour, only the most
important being entrusted to the Public Works Department; the general rule
observed was that any work costing over Rs. 2,500 should ordinarily be done
by the Public Works Department. There was continuous friction between the
Public Works Department Officers and the Civil Officers, the chief complaints
made by the Civil Officers being on account of the exorbitant charges made by
the Public Works Department for any work done by it for the District Cess
Fund, and, in consequence of the friction, from April 1st, 1910, the civil works
of the District Cess Fund were taken over by the Public Works Department, the
District Cess Fund making a yearly contribution to the latter for their
maintenance. In 1911 orders were passed that separate engineering
establishments were too costly, and that the Public Works Department should
do all public works except those of a petty nature, which could be done by
unskilled labour; and from this date the engineering establishment of the
District Cess Fund was absorbed by the Public Works Department.
Henzada.
Henzada was one of the first seven municipalities, constituted under the
original Burma Municipal Act of 1874.
(1) House post tax on the houses and buildings in the town.
(2) Receipts from bazaar rents, and daily collections.
(3) Sale of excise licenses, carriage and cart licenses, ferries and tolls,
slaughter house licenses, cattle pound fees and fines, etc.
(4) Revenue derived from the cultivated land on the islands on the river.
Much excellent work had been done in the town before the constitution of
the Municipal Committee. The town had been laid out, and Rs. 1,500 was
spent or raising the streets in 1869 and 1870. A fine bazaar, the principal
source of the committee's income, was completed in 1872 at a cost of Rs.
72,500, and a dispensary had been opened by Government in 1864.
some wards and the seats have to be filled by nomination of the Commissioner
of the Division. In 1908 the constitution of the Committee was altered to four
ex-officio members, namely the Deputy Commissioner, the Subdivisional
Officer, the Subdivisional Officer, Public Works Department, and the Civil
Surgeon, and 13 ordinary members, either elected or nominated. This is the
present constitution of the Committee and in 1913, of the ordinary members,
nine were elected and four had to be nominated. Considerable interest has
always been shown by the Committee in Municipal affairs and the attendance
at meetings is fairly good. The Deputy Commissioner has always been the
President of the Committee, except in the years 1882 and 1883, when the Civil
Surgeon was President.
The income of the Municipality in 1875 was Rs. 23,510. In 1876 it had
risen to Rs. 45,650. The total income of Committee in the year 1881-82 was
Rs. 50,400, in 1891-92 it was Rs. 69,048, in 1901-02 Rs. 85,063, in 1911-1912
Rs. 87,452. The expenditure of the Municipality in the year 1881-82 was Rs.
98,980, in 1891-92 it was Rs. 86,221, in 1901-02 Rs. 87,107, in 1911-12 Rs.
1,12,754. A detailed statement of the annual income and expenditure of the
Municipality since the year 1901-02 will be found in Table XVI, Volume B.
Considerably more than half the income of the Municipality has always been
derived from bazaar rents and bazaar stall rents.
At first considerable grants were made from Provincial Funds in aid of the
Municipality, but these grants were greatly reduced in 1887. In 1888 the excise
revenue and capitation tax receipts were withdrawn from the Municipality, and
a fixed contribution was given from Provincial
HENZADA DISTRICT 181
funds in their stead. This Provincial grant was finally With drawn in 1892, and
from that time the Municipality has had to be self-supporting. All the
assistance the Municipality now receives from Provincial Funds is in the form
of occasional lump-sum grants for important Schemes, under the system
instituted by the Local Government in 1901. In 1890 the municipality also lost
the revenue from the islands in the river, these receipts being transferred to the
Provincial head "Land Revenue."
In 1896 a conservancy tax was imposed, and a lighting tax was proposed,
but had to be dropped because of opposition. The lighting tax was finally
imposed in 1899. In 1896 a toll on all vehicles was also imposed in addition to
the old hack-cart tax. In 1900 a scavenging and area tax was levied on the
southern part of the town. In 1902 the old house-post tax was converted into a
tax on all land covered by buildings. In 1905 toils were levied on all boats
plying for hire.
(2) Tolls on road and ferries, receipts from hack-cart and ferry licenses and
slaughter-house licenses;
(3) Scavenging and area tax, conservancy tax and lighting tax;
(5) Fees and fines under Municipal and other Acts. The principal objects of
expenditure of the Municipality are conservancy, medical relief, sanitation,
public works, education, markets and slaughter houses and street lighting.
Activities.
The new committee first directed its attention to the matter of drainage.
unbricked roadside drains were constructed in 1876, and in 1880 a drainage
scheme was drawn up. The drainage scheme was carried out in 1881 and 1882,
in the form of masonry drains, at a cost of Rs. 63,050. The masonry drains
have been extended as funds have permitted, and they are now to be found
along side all the principal streets. All other roads are provided with a good
system of unbricked drains. Unfortunately at the height of the rains the town is
below the level of the
182 HENZADA DISTRICT
Irrawaddy, with the result that there is no drainage when it is most needed.
Day conservancy has also been efficiently carried out Gangs of coolies
keep the roads clean, and bins for the receipt of rubbish are provided along the
roadsides. Street watering was begun in 1886 and all the principal roads are
now watered daily during the hot weather.
Night conservancy was at first confined to making the existing tess pools
as sanitary as possible, and public latrines were not constructed until 1885.
Public latrines on the single bucket system are now to be found in all the
populous quarters, and the use of cess-pools is forbidden. Public and private
latrines are cleansed daily. At first the night soil was thrown into the river, and
the lack of a good night conservancy system was frequently commented on in
the Municipal reports; this defect was remedied by the construction in 1906 of
the tram-line system which is now in use.
In the matter of water supply the Committee have done what is possible
with the funds at their disposal. Many public wells have been constructed;
rules have been published to prevent bathing and washing of clothes at wells
the water from which is used for drinking purposes; public and private wells
are cleaned out every year and disinfected with potassium permanganate. Rules
have been made to regulate the sale of milk and aerated waters. The
Municipality has of recent years incurred very large expenditure on measures
to prevent plague, and has had to be assisted from Provincial Funds to meet it.
duty of registering vital statistics was handed over to them The registration is
carried out under rule made under the Municipal Act of 1888, and is
supervised by the Health officer. Owing to the efficient supervision, it is well
done and the records are fairly accurate.
Two manual fire engines were purchased in 1891. They are worked by the
day conservancy coolies, but, as fires only occur in the hot weather, they are
often useless through lack of water near the scene of fire. In 1892 rules for
segregating cattle, to prevent stolen cattle being hurriedly slaughtered, were
drawn up. In this matter other Municipalities have followed the lead of
Henzada, and similar rules are now in force in every Municipality.
In 1882 the Government Cess School was taken over by the Municipality.
After a very successful career as the Municipal School, the Municipality was
obliged to hand it back to Government in 1910, as the Committee could not
meet the increasing expenditure. The contributions of the Committee to
education now consists of grants in aid to private schools in the town. Until
1882 the Municipality was responsible for the upkeep of the Town Police
force. In that year this responsibility was removed from the
Myanaung was made a notified area, and certain portions of the Municipal
Act were extended to it, and a Town
184 HENZADA DISTRICT
Myanaung.
The constitution of the committee has always been the same, namely three
ex-oificio members and ten ordinary members, nominated by the
Commissioner of the Division. The ex-officio members are the Subdivisional
Officer, the Township Officer, and the Sub-Assistant Surgeon in charge of the
hospital. The Sub-Overseer, Public Works Department, Kyangin, was an ex-
officio member of the committee during the time that the headquarters of the
township were at Kanaung. Very little interest has ever been shown in
municipal matters, and the attendance at meetings is always poor. In 1897 the
whole committee had to be changed, as, owing to apathy, a quorum could not
be obtained at meetings. The bright spot in the history of the committee has
been their interest in the Municipal school, which was opened in 1874 as a cess
school, and was taken over by the Municipality in 1882. An account of the
school will be found in Chapter XII. The school was handed over to
Government in 1910 as the Municipality could not continue its heavy
expenditure on education.
The town was well laid out in the days when it was the headquarters of the
Myanaung District. A dispensary was opened by Government in 1864, and
became the Municipal hospital on the formation of the Municipal Committee.
The present hospital was originally an inspection bungalow at Kyangin which
was removed and re-erected at Myanaung for the purpose about 20 years ago.
A bazaar was built in 1869 at a costs of Rs. 2,700. This bazaar was burnt down
in 1890, and a new bazaar was built in 1893; There is a gang of coolies for day
conservancy, and a very small night conservancy system on the single bucket
system, the night-soil being trenched.
Street lighting was carried out on a very small scale but had been given up
recently.
HENZADA DISTRICT 185
The excise and capitation-tax revenue was withdrawn in 1888, and the
Provincial grants were discontinued during the two following years.
A cart-tax was imposed in 1896, and in 1901 the house-post tax was
replaced by a tax on the area of land covered by buildings. There is also a
small tax on vacant land within the Municipality. The expenditure-is on the
usual objects of conservancy, medical relief, public works, education, etc.
Kyangin.
The cess school, opened in 1875 was handed over to the Municipality in
1882. It was never a success, was reduced to the primary grade in 1892, and
was finally closed in 1907. The expenditure of the Municipality on education
now consists of grants in aid to the mission and indigenous schools.
An indoor dispensary was opened in 1901, and plans and estimates have
since been drawn up for the construction of a hospital to replace the
dispensary, but funds to carry out the work have not yet become available.
The public works of the committee consist in the main tenance of existing
roads and buildings.
Very little interest is taken in Municipal affairs, and in 1897 the committee
was changed on account of apathy. The municipality is extremely poor.
Zalun.
A small indoor dispensary was opened in 1901, and in 1907 a loan for a
new hospital was given by Government. The loan was never used and was
refunded in 1911, In 1911 a new temporary building inside the main bund was
constructed as a hospital.
In 1912, owing to the erosion of the Irrawaddy a large portion of the town
fell into the river, and the remainder was threatened. The town had to be
removed to a new site in side the main bund, and on this account the
Municipality was abolished on March 31st, 1913,
The Municipality was never a success, and the committee never took any
interest in Municipal affairs. A detailed statement of the yearly income and
expenditure of the Municipality since 1901-02 will be found in Table XVI,
Volume B, and a list of the staff entertained by the Municipality is given on
page 3, Volume B.
Lemyethna.
In 1907 there was a disastrous epidemic of plague, and the town had to be
evacuated. Rupees 8,000 was contributed in this year by Provincial and District
Funds for plague purposes. The epidemic of plague was followed by a
disastrous flood the next year, and the Town Committee was thereupon
abolished,
Besides Lemyethna, the following places have been notified as towns, for
the purposes of the Town and village
188 HENZADA DISTRICT
CHAPTER XII.
Education.
Controlling Agencies.
The Henzada District from the first received attention as regards education,
and the missionary societies, who worked principally among the Karens, were
given considerable grants in aid. Beyond this the State did not interfere for
some years. The Education department of the Province was first organized in
1866, when a Director of Public Instruction was appointed. He was given five
Deputy Inspectors to assist him. An Inspector of Schools was first appointed in
1874. Special Deputy Inspectors for the schools of backward races were first
appointed in 1879, when a Deputy Inspector of Karen schools was appointed.
The staff of the Education department has been gradually increased as the
education of the Province has advanced, and Lower Burma is now divided into
four circles, each of which is in charge of an Inspector of Schools. The
Inspectors are assisted by numerous Deputy Inspectors.
The Henzada District forms part of the Irrawaddy Circle, and the Inspector
in charge resides at Bassein. For the Henzada District there are four Deputy
Inspectors; two, in charge of A and B divisions of the district, reside at
Henzada; one in charge of the C division, has his headquarters at Myanaung.
There is also a Deputy Inspector, with head quarters at Henzada, in charge of
the Karen schools of the district. The only other gazette officer of the
Education department, residing in the Henzada District, is the head master of
the Government High School at Henzada.
District Committees.
Local committees for supervising the education of the district, were formed
at the headquarters of each district in 1869. The committees consisted of
prominent local officials and non-officials, with the Deputy Commissioner as
President. Similar sub-committees, with the Subdivisional Officer as President,
were formed at the headquarters of
HENZADA DISTRICT 189
Grading.
The schools of the Province were first graded in 1868. They were divided
into High schools, Middle schools, and Primary schools. The standards up to
which various subjects were to be taught in the different schools were laid
down, but there were no definite standards for passing from one class into the
other. It was found that in schools which included both primary and middle
classes, school managers tended to rush their pupils into the middle class
before they had obtained a sufficient primary education, with the result that the
standard of education throughout the school suffered.
In 1887 the schools were re-graded. Seven definite standards were made
for primary and middle schools, the subjects to be taught, and the standard
knowledge required in each subject, being laid down for every standard. No
pupil was allowed to be transferred to a higher standard until he had passed the
examination by the standard of his present class. The first four standards
comprised the primary classes; the fifth, sixth and seventh standards
constituted the middle standards. This system of grading is the present system.
For high schools there are also the eighth and ninth Anglo-Vernacular
standards, followed by the examinations of the Calcutta University. There are
also eighth and ninth vernacular standards, but these are taught in middle
schools.
Almost the only medium of education in Burmese times was the school for
Burmese boys kept at every monastery throughout the Province. In return for
their support the
190 HENZADA DISTRICT
monks of the village keep the village school in the monastery where the boys
of the village are taught to read and write and the principle so the Buddhist
religion. In Burmese times lay schools were few and far between. The monks,
of course, do not teach girls. In spite of the very large increase of lay schools
which has taken place under British rule, these monastic schools still remain
the "bed-rock" of the primary education of the Province. Despite the sweeping
condemn nations of monks and monastic schools which have from time to time
been made in the annual reports on Public Instruction, because monks are
conservative as a class and a majority of them cling fast to their old methods
and refuse to adopt those of the Education department and have their schools
"registered," these monastic schools serve a very good purpose, and are mainly
responsible for the very high percentage of literacy which the Province shows,
as com pared with the rest of India. At the Census of 1911, the standard of
literacy, was defined as "being able to write a letter on ordinary topics and read
the reply thereto." This is a severe standard of literacy, but of the 509,3 10
Buddhists enumerated in the Henzada District, 155,3 12 were returned as
literate; and of 248,912 Buddhist males, 130,898 were returned as literate;
whereas, of 10,121 Native Christians 3,408 satisfied the test of literacy, and of
the 4,910 males amongst the Native Christians, only 2,097 were returned as
literate. Thatis, amongs the male population, a larger per cent age of Buddhists
than of Native Christians is literate. These figures reflect great credit on the
monastic schools, where the vast majority of Buddhists receive all the
education they ever get. The monastic schools teach the boys to read and write,
and an agricultural population requires little more. The Government was alive
to the import, once of the monastic schools from the first, and in 1865
measures were taken to distribute books on Arithmetic and Land-measuring in
Burmese for use in monasteries, but the monks did not take kindly to the new
books, which in the majority of cases they did not understand.
cally, and grants were given to them according to the results obtained in
various subjects. This system raised a healthy spirit of rivalry between the
different monasteries and between them and the village lay schools, where
such existed. The result was a great demand for school books and an advance
in primary education in both the monastic and lay schools. Certificated
assistant teachers, whose salaries were paid by Government, were introduced
into deserving monastic and lay schools. There were their teen such teachers in
the monasteries of the Henzada District in 1874. and in that year 95 monastic
and 19 lay schools were inspected. In 1883-84 number of subjects for which
the grants in aid by results could be earned was largely increased and the
grants were made more liberal with the result that the number of registered
schools largely increased. In 1887 the numbers of schools registered were 227
monastic and 56 lay schools.
Those monks who have seriously taken up secular education on the lines
laid down by the Education Department have not been content to be agents of
primary education only. Nowadays many scholars of monastic schools are
successful in the examinations of the middle standards. Scholars of two
monastic schools in Henzada were successful in passing the fifth vernacular
standard in 1896 and now there are seven or eight monasteries in the district
who regularly enter scholars up to the seventh vernacular standard. None of the
monastic schools in this district have attempted anglo-vernacular education. In
spite of the advance made in introducing sound primary education into the
monasteries the majority of monks, probably through fear of the display of
their own ignorance which would result, still refuse to accept Government
supervision, and most of the monastic schools are still unregistered. In fact the
ordinary ignorant Burman still prefers that his children should be able to recite
the Buddhist precepts, than that they should have sound grounding in the
"three R's."
Lay schools.
Even in Burmese times there were in some villages small schools kept by a
layman, who depended for his livelihood on the small fees he charged for
instruction. At these schools both boys and girls were received, and on them
the Burmese girl depended for her education, scanty though it was. Although
some of these schools are now most excel lent institutions, many of the village
lay schools have made no advance and still remain unregistered and are not
inspected. The managers, or "sayas", are intensely ignorant and are capable of
imparting instruction to no one, and the schools are used principally as a means
of getting rid of troublesome children for the days when no useful word can be
found for them rather than as a means of education. Many schools are only
kept open for a portion of the year during the hot weather and rains. The
schools are of a fluctuating character; if the "saya" does not receive what
HENZADA DISTRICT 193
Certificated teachers.
In 1867 normal schools to train and provide teachers for the village lay and
monastic schools were opened at certain centres. Pupils of these or other
schools who could pass a certain prescribed examination were given teacher's
certificates, and received a salary from Government. Several of the lay schools
in the Henzada District received commendation from the first and were given
certificated teachers as assistants. In 1882, in order to encourage the opening of
really useful primary lay schools, special offers of free equipment, building
grants, and attendance grants were made to certificated teachers who opened
schools; this measure resulted in the foundation of several good lay schools in
the larger places of the district.
Although the majority of the village lay schools are still beyond the control
of the educational department, and are useless as educational institutions, there
are now in the district a large number of lay schools in the hands of certificated
managers and assistants, which are capable of imparting a sound elementary
vernacular education. The best of these schools have by no means been content
to enter scholars for the primary standards only; thus pupils from two lay
schools in Henzada passed the middle vernacular
194 HENZADA DISTRICT
Karen Schools.
Although there are a few Karen monastic schools in the district, and
although for a short time, from 1896 to 1899, one of these schools was on the
inspection list, yet they are of no importance and need not be described in
detail. The Buddhist Karens are intermingled with the Burmans and attend the
ordinary Burmese monastic and lay schools. The only Karen schools of any
importance are the mission schools belonging to the Roman Catholic and
American Baptist Missions. These schools were the first schools in the district
to receive the attention of Government and from 1885 aid was afforded to the
mission schools in the form of grants.
The policy of the Roman Catholic Church has been to form a series of
separate missions, each in charge of a priest; there are now twenty-seven such
missions in this district. Every missionary has been indefatigable in
establishing schools throughout his charge, and the number of Roman Catholic
Mission schools has now reached 82. These schools are chiefly for the purpose
of teaching religion, but an ordinary elementary education is also taught. The
schools were at first assisted by grants, which were distributed freely, but these
grants to village schools were disallowed in 1872 and the system of payment
by results was started. The result of this measure was that grants to Karen
schools, where teaching was carried on in the Karen language, ceased. The
teaching in the Roman Catholic schools is still chiefly carried on in Karen, and
the schools have not come under the control of the Education Department and
are not inspected. They have received no assistance from Government since
1872 except a few special grants from Provincial Funds for particular
purposes, such as building grants. But the schools serve a very useful purpose
indeed, particularly in the education of girls. The
HENZADA DISTRICT 195
Schools for Chins were first opened in 1885 and in 1905 a grant for
building a central Chin school in Kyangin was given. Four of the schools in the
Kyangin Township are for Chin converts and the central Chin school at
Kyangin is an Anglo-Vernacular school, whose scholars are entered for the
Government examination.
The first American Baptist Mission school for Karens was opened in
Henzada in 1855. From its outset the school received liberal yearly grants from
Government, and the school made considerable progress in giving an
elementary education to the Karen converts. In 1861 village schools were
opened, and the school in Henzada was converted into a normal school for the
training of teachers for the village schools. The work, largely subsidized by
Government, increased apace, and in 1863 there were, be sides the normal
school in Henzada, 5 normal and 40 village schools in the district. On
inspection, it was found that many of these schools were worthless and in 1866
the numbers were reduced to one normal school in Henzada and 16 village
schools, all aided by Government, and eight non aided village schools. All the
schools were classed as primary schools and the pupils in all schools were
taught through the medium of the Karen language.
In 1872, when the payment by results system for primary schools came into
force, the grants to the village schools were stopped, but owing to the fact that
the Karens were so backward and that the medium of instruction was Karen,
none of the village schools satisfied the requirements for registration, and they
were not inspected; consequently the village schools languished and many of
them were closed altogether. The normal school at Henzada still continued to
receive a grant in aid from Government of Rs. 1,000 per annum. In 1878, at the
request of the missionary in charge, this grant of Rs. 1,000 was transfer red
from the normal school to the village schools, and the village schools were
then reopened. In 1879 a Deputy Inspector for Karen schools, who spent most
of his time in the Henzada, Tharrawaddy and Bassein Districts, was appointed.
In 1881-82 the grant of Rs. 1,000 was retransferred from the village schools to
the Normal school at
196 HENZADA DISTRICT
Henzada; but the school lost the grant the next year, as it refused to enter its
pupils for the Government examinations. In 1889 the normal school was
reopened as an Anglo-Vernacular Middle School,
Government had for some time been alive to the back wardens of the
Karens and the necessity for encouraging education amongst them by special
measures, One of the greatest difficulties that the Education Department met
with was the fact that the missionaries taught their pupils in the Karen
language, and it was therefore impossible for the schools to use the books of
the Education Department, or to enter for the Government examinations. Many
circulars were issued, asking that the medium of teaching be made Burmese
instead of Karen, and the study of Burmese in the Karen schools was begun in
1873; gradually the Burmese language was introduced into the schools and
became the medium by which the various subjects were taught. After this step
had been accomplished, it was found necessary to introduce special measures
whereby the schools could earn Government grants. In 1881-82 special
teachers' certificates were granted to Karens, whereby a Karen teacher's
certificate could be obtained on a much inferior knowledge than could the
ordinary certificate. The managers of Karen schools, if certificated, were
given, besides their salaries, special grants based on attendance in addition to
the grants which their pupils might earn in the Government examinations. The
result of these measures was that the Karen village schools were gradually
brought on to the inspection lists, and the standard of education in the schools
rose like other certificated teachers, the Karen teachers ceased to be officers of
the Education Department in 1883 and were in future given salary grants based
on results and attendance. By 1885, the standard of education had risen so
much that it was found practicable to raise the Karen teacher's certificate to the
ordinary standard.
Chins, but the Chin converts are taught in the ordinary Karen schools. Many of
the schools now present candidates for the middle vernacular standards.
From 1868 a small cess for Educational purposes, of 1 per cent on the Land
Revenue, had been collected. Little use was at first made of the funds, which
accumulated. In 1872 it was therefore decided to erect in the larger towns and
villages Vernacular schools, whose expenses, apart from small contributions
levied from the scholars, should be entirely borne by the District Cess Fund. In
the Henzada District such Cess schools were opened at Henzada (1873),
Myanaung (1874) and Kyangin (1875). It was intended that these schools
should impart a really sound vernacular education, but the demand of parents
for an Anglo-Vernacular education for their children was so persistent that
most of the schools soon succumbed. The schools at Myanaung and Kyangin at
once began to teach English, but the school at Henzada remained vernacular.
The schools were graded as primary schools, and were mixed schools. Large
numbers of girls attended, particularly at Henzada, and at the latter school a
separate girls' department was opened and a mistress appointed in 1876.
In 1877 the Cess school at Kyangin was closed as it was not a success, but
after the transfer of the schools from Cess Funds to Municipal Funds, it was
reopened as a Municipal school in 1883. Cess schools were only opened in
these three towns and it soon became apparent that only scholars from the
towns attended them. It was unfair that the Cess Fund, collected in the district,
should pay for education in the towns, and therefore in 1878 the charges of
these schools were transferred from the Cess Fund to the respective Municipal
and Town Funds. The designation of the schools was also altered, and
henceforward they were known as Government Primary schools. Although still
designated "Primary schools," many scholars of the Henzada school passed the
Middle Vernacular standards. In 1881, at the
198 HENZADA DISTRICT
Municipal Schools.
In 1905 a small hostel was opened in connection with the Municipal school
at Myanaung, and has proved a success. It serves to attract many scholars from
the district. The school made a heavy drain on Municipal Funds and on this
account, on the application of the Municipal Committee, the school was
handed over to Government in 1910 and it is now a Government Anglo-
Vernacular school.
Besides the High school at Henzada and the Middle School at Myanaung
there are no other Anglo-Vernacular lay or monastic schools in the district,
although, as already noted, many pupils of the latter schools (both lay and
monastic) are successful in the Vernacular Examinations by the middle
standards.
S.P.G. Schools.
In 1867 the Roy. Dr. Marks of the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel opened Anglo-Vernacular schools for Burmans at Zalun and Henzada.
In 1868 a similar school was opened at Myanaung, The schools were given
building grants and were also assisted by annual grants. From the beginning
the schools at Zalun and Myanaung were not a success. Owing to the
exceedingly small attendances and the bad reports received on inspection, the
grants to all three schools were stopped in 1869 and the school at Myanaung
had to be closed. It was reopened the next year when the grants were renewed,
and the school at Henzada progressed greatly under a new master. When the
scheme of payment by results was instituted, the schools at Zalun and
Myanaung could not earn enough to pay their expenses and they were finally
closed. The school at Henzada continued to do well until 1878 when it began
to decline, chiefly owing to too much teaching in English in the lower classes,
and was for a time graded as a primary school. It was reported on very
unfavourably for a number of years, and continued to languish until the
expediency of closing it had to be considered. After a hard struggle for
existence, the school was finally closed in 1890, and the school building was
bought by the Municipality and used as a Municipal office.
The old Karen Normal school of the American Baptist Mission was re-
opened as an Anglo-Vernacular school for Karens in 1889, and has been a
great success. The Burman Primary school opened in 1889, was raised to an
Anglo-Vernacular Middle school in 1891, and has been equally successful.
Both these schools, like most Mission schools, are mixed, and they have large
resident hostels attached to them. It is proposed to raised both schools to the
status of High schools in the near future.
Danubyu (the last is now in the Maubin District). These schools have only
recently become Anglo-Vernacular schools and have not yet presented scholars
for the higher middle standard examinations.
The High school at Henzada only reached this status in October 1913.
Since then the results have been satisfactory. The present average daily
attendance (in 1914) is 225. At the last Government examinations, of the 25
pupils presented for the seventh Anglo-Vernacular Standard 15 were
successful, and of 15 presented for the eight standard all were successful.
Pupils will be presented for the ninth standard at the next examinations.
Female Education.
The figures showing the standard of literacy in the district, given in the
paragraph on the monastic schools, are evidence of the backward state of
female education. Girls cannot attend the monastic schools, so that in the
villages the girls cannot obtain even the merest Smattering of education unless
there is a lay or mission school and even then, but few girls attend, as the
Burman cannot see the use of educating his female children, whose principal
business in life is household duties. But female education is by no means
backward in the Henzada District, as com pared with the rest of the Province, a
fact which is principally due to the activities of the missionaries.
The Roman Catholic Mission opened their first girls' school at Mayangon
in 1868. This mission now has several girls' schools scattered throughout the
district, and most of the mission's village schools are mixed, and are well
attend ed by girls. The schools are not registered or examined. The Christian
Karens have always shown a desire to have their girls, as well as their boys,
educated, and most of the American Baptist Mission schools have a girls'
department, usually with a certificated mistress in charge. Karen women are
trained as teachers at the Middle school in Henzada.
The Burmese schools of the Mission also have girls' departments. The girls'
department of the old Cess schools were popular from the beginning,
particularly at the school in Henzada. The schools at Myanaung and Kyangin
gave up their girls' departments when they were
HENZADA DISTRICT 201
Besides these schools, two lay schools for girls were registered and
received grants in 1876, and there are now a large number of registered mixed
and girls' schools throughout the district. Many of these schools teach up to the
middle vernacular standards. There are no Anglo-Vernacular schools at which
girls are taught except the schools of the American Baptist Mission.
Survey School.
Financial.
The early grants made to Mission schools were made from Provincial
Funds. An educational tess of 1 per cent on the Land Revenue was instituted in
1868. This cess became merged in the general 10 per cent. tess levied under
the District Cesses and Rural Police Act of 1880. From 1872 the Cess Fund
had to pay not only the expenses of the Cess schools, but also all the grants
determined by results, etc., earned by schools in the district. The Town Funds
paid such grants earned by the schools in the towns. Only special grants made
by Government to certain schools for specific purposes were paid from
Provincial Funds. In 1878 the charges of the cess schools were transferred
from the Cess Funds to the Town Funds, and the District Cess Fund was in
future only liable for educational charges out side towns.
This system stiI1 continues, the District Cess Fund paying all the ordinary
charges of education in the district, and the Municipal Funds paying the
charges of education in the towns. In the ordinary course of things grants from
Provinicial Funds are only made for special purposes, such as building,
equipment, etc. Provincial Funds occasionally
202 HENZADA DISTRICT
come to the aid of the District Cess and Municipal Funds when these latter are
unable to meet charges levied on them. The fault of the system is that the rate
of progress of education must always be regulated by the capability of the
District Cess and Municipal Funds to meet the increasing expenditure. The
Education Department regularly complains of the small allotments made by
District Cess and the Municipal Funds for educational purposes.
The expenditure on education of the Henzada District for the decade 1902-
12 was met as follows:-
Rs.
General Remarks.
CHAPTER XIII.
Public Health.
General Health.
Henzada is not very healthy district. The dense nature of the jungle along
the Arakan foothills, the clayey nature of the soil, the extreme humidity of the
atmosphere throughout the rains, the entire absence of the natural drainage,
owing to the riverine embankments, all combine to make the climate
depressing and unhealthy. The density of the population is also a great aid to
the spread of infection, and it is difficult to check the ravages of a disease
which has once established itself. The principal diseases from which the
inhabitants of the district suffer are fevers, bowel complaints, small-pox and
plague.
Fevers.
Malarial fever is endemic along the whole length of the Arakan foothills,
and the disease is particularly virulent at the beginning and end of the rains, the
rapid alterations of heat and cold which occur at these seasons upsetting the
system so that the disease finds an easy prey. At these seasons it is very unwise
for any person, who is not inured to the conditions, to make a visit to the hills.
The extreme unhealthiness of the foothills is probably due to the dense nature
of the jungle growth.
The only steps which have so far been taken by Government for the
prevention of malaria have been the recommendation and sale of quinine. The
sale of quinine by Government was first begun in 1894. Pamphlets in several
vernaculars setting forth the virtues of quinine and the method of using the
drug were distributed to every village headman throughout the Province.
Stocks of quinine, made up into suitable doses, were kept at every Government
treasury, and quinine for scale at a very low rate was carried by every village
postman. In 1898 district vaccinators were also made agents for the sale of the
drug. In
204 HENZADA DISTRICT
1909 the old powders were replaced by tabloids and the price of the drug was
lowered still further. Although the use of quinine has gradually increased, the
new tabloids being far more popular than the old powders, the popularity of the
drug is still quite incommensurate with the benefits which would be derived by
its general use.
Cholera.
Cholera is a recurring epidemic in the towns and along the banks of the
rivers. It appears occasionally in the interior of the district also, but epidemics
are not an annual occurrence. The district is peculiarly susceptible to cholera
owing to the lack and impossibility of obtaining a good water-supply. A large
proportion of the inhabitants of the towns and riverine villages drink river
water, unfiltered and unboiled. The interior of the district is dependent on well
water and the water-supply provided in the municipalities is from wells. Owing
to the nature of the district, all these wells are situated in porous loam soil,
nearly all of them are dry in the hot weather, and in the rains the water from
them is polluted by drainage from houses and rice fields, which percolates
freely into the wells without becoming cleansed or filtered in its passage. In the
municipalities such action as is possible is taken to improve the well water, by
cleaning out all refuse from the wells every hot weather, and by disinfecting
the water in them with potassium permanganate. The provision of a pure
water-supply for Henzada appears to be a problem incapable of solution. The
worst epidemics of cholera in this district occurred in 1884-86, 1905 and 1907.
Small-pox.
Small-pox used to be a dreaded scourge of the district, but with the spread
of knowledge and the increasing popularity of vaccination it has become of
secondary importance. The last epidemic of small-pox occurred in 1892, but
before this date a bad epidemic in some part of the district or other was an
almost yearly occurrence.
that the inoculation which they prefer is not illegal. Karens prefer English
vaccination, and nearly all Karens, both children and adults, get themselves
vaccinated regularly. Burmans still prefer inoculation, as practised by their
own doctors, on the grounds that if successful it gives entire and lifelong
immunity, whereas vaccination at its best only gives an immunity, which is not
entire, for a period. They forget, or rather do not trouble to consider the facts,
that a large proportion of persons who are inoculated die of small-pox
contracted through the inoculation, that epidemics are frequently begun by
persons recovering from inoculation, and that inoculation introduces other
diseases into the system. Vaccination is not the success it ought to be,
considering the pains that Government has taken to encourage it, the principal
reasons being-
The Vaccination Act has been extended to the three principal towns of
Henzada, Myanaung and Kyangin; these towns employ a paid vaccination staff
and within their municipal limits vaccination is compulsory. Vaccination was
also compulsory at Zalun until that town ceased to be a municipality at the end
of 1913. Statistics of vaccination will be found in Table XXIII, Volume B.
Plague.
The first indigenous case of plague did not occur in Burma until 1905, and
during that year the disease appeared in Henzada town. Since then the towns of
the district have been the scenes of regularly recurring epidemics of varying
severity. The disease has never obtained any hold in the interior of the district.
To combat plague, at first the operations of surveillance, evacuation, rat-
killing, disinfections, and inoculation were all carried out, but ratting operation
on a large scale caused such a serious disturbance of business that in 1911 they
were given up. The measures taken now are evacuation, disinfections and
inoculation. Unfortunately inoculation is extremely unpopular and is only
resorted to as a last hope, the temporary inconvenience
206 HENZADA DISTRICT
caused thereby being quite sufficient to condemn it in the eyes of the Burmans.
The general expert opinion is that the best means of preventing the spread of
plague lies in permanent sanitary improvements to houses, bazaars and
granaries, and in their construction so as to afford the minimum amount of
habourage for rats.
Infantile mortality.
In common with the rest of the Province, the infantile mortality of the
district is very large; in fact of the total deaths recorded within the decade
1902-12, 44 per cent were children under five years of age. The reasons for
this extremely high mortality amongst the children are the employment of
ignorant midwives, improper feeding, and the in sanitary conditions in which
the children are born and reared. Burmese mothers must rank amongst the
worst mothers in the world. A society for the Prevention of Infantile Mortality
in Burma was constituted in 1905, but its activities are small.
Vitality Statistics.
the statistics almost valueless in so far as they deal with the "cause of death."
All Burmans are ignorant of diagnosis, and most doubtful cases are described
as "fever," and hence fever figures far too largely as a "cause of death."
The following table shows the recorded birth and death rates for the district
for every tenth year since 1882:-
The earlier figures were very inaccurate, and in all probability the gradual
increase of both the birth and death rates is the result of greater accuracy in
registration, and not of an increasing number of actual births and deaths.
Epidemics have never been so severe as to have any very apparent effect on
the birth and death rates, and it is probable that the rates are in reality
approximately constant, the birth-rate being about 40, and the death-rate about
32 per 1,000 of the population.
Sanitation.
A Sanitary Commissioner for the Province was first appointed in 1868. His
activities are almost entirely' confined to advising Hospital and Town
Committees on sanitary matters, such as drainage and water-supply, and little
has been or can be done in the villages to promote generally the health of the
people except the encouragement of cleanliness, the draining and clearing of
village sites, and the digging of wells. Such money as can be spared from the
District Cess Fund is devoted to these objects, but their advancement is
dependent on almost wholly non
208 HENZADA DISTRICT
existent private enterprise, In 1878 rules for village sanitation were drawn up,
translated into Burmese, and distributed amongst headmen, but they are
unworkable in the present condition of the people, and are practically a dead
letter. For two and a half months of almost every year the greater portion of the
populated area of this district is below the level of the Irrawaddy and Nagwun
rivers, and much of the country is a swamp. The village sites have no drainage
and are a series of stagnant puddles for half the year. Of latrine
accommodation there is none. These evils are however to some extent
counteracted by the fact that Burmese houses are always raised above the
ground, are open along their whole front, while the walls and floors are usually
made of pervious materials, such as bamboo matting and split bamboos, so that
the ventilation is good. A plot of jungle separated from village, is used as the
village latrine, and the people are fairly cleanly so far as their bodies are
concerned.
Hospitals.
At first the dispensaries were financed from the "Dispensary Fund" which
consisted of fees from patients, voluntary contributions and contributions from
municipal and town funds. The expense of medical salaries, European
medicines, and surgical instruments and appliances was met by Government.
In 1879 the management of the dispensary at Henzada, in common with that of
all dispensaries in municipal towns, was handed over to the Municipal
Committee, and the dispensary became the Municipal Hospital.
the same time, in 1892, the District Cess Fund began to make contributions to
the municipalities towards the cost of patients from the district treated in
Municipal hospitals. A new hospital was built at Henzada in 1898 and a fine
wing was added to it in 1912 to commemorate the reign of King Edward VII.
The hospital has now accommodation for 32 in patients. It is in the charge of
the Civil Surgeon of the district, and there are also two Sub Assistant Surgeons
attached to it.
The District Cess Fund has also opened an in door dispensary at Ingabu (in
1900) and an outdoor dispensary at Knaung (in 1912).
HENZADA DISTRICT 211
The following table gives general information about the facilities for
medical relief within the district:-
At first the hospitals were unpopular and were very little used by Burmans,
chiefly, it is said, because the medical officers could not speak Burmese, and
the subordinate medical officers were all Indians. But this prejudice to
hospitals has largely disappeared, and they are now freely used in surgical
cases, although the Burman still prefers to use Burmese physic.
CHAPTER XIV.
Minor Articles.
Henzada Subdivision.
Henzada Township.
The township is a large alluvial plain, 370 square miles in area, protected
from inundation by the Ngawun and Irrawaddy embankments. There is a series
of lagoons and channels, relics of former inundations, parallel to the Irrawaddy
and about 7 miles inland. The plain is drained by the Daga river and the
Pannya stream. Almost the whole area is given over to the cultivation of rice,
and the land is fertile, but is now beginning to feel the effects of continuous
cropping. Miscellaneous crops are grown on the islands in the Irrawaddy and
on the flooded lands out side the embankments. Holdings are large, and the
people are on the whole prosperous. The whole township is densely populated.
The majority of the inhabitants are Burmans, but Karens are found scattered
throughout the western part of the township. Its population* at the last two
censuses was-
1901 131,698
1911 140,205
* Unless otherwise stated, populations given in this chapter are those found
at the census of 1911.
HENZADA DISTRICT 213
At earlier censuses the township contained a smaller area than it does now,
the area of the township having been increased at the expense of the
Lemyethna and Zatun Town ships. An account of the principal towns and
villages of the township is to be found in the succeeding articles.
Henzada
Legends variously attribute the funding of the town to the middle of the
13th century and the earlier part of the 16th century. There are no historical
records, and the latter date is more probably correct. Colonel Symes visited
Henzada when on his mission to Ava at the end of the 18th century; he saw
evident signs of wealth, but no cultivatio. The town was prosperous in
Burmese times, and was the headquarters of a myowun (governor); it depended
for its prosperity on its trade in timber, extracted from the Arakan Hills.
Although under British rule the town has lost its timber trade: this has been
more than compensated by the enormous increase of cultivation since the
construction of the Irrawaddy embankments. The fine houses and shops, and
the sleek and well-dressed appearance of the inhabitants is sufficient indication
of the prosperity of the town. It is a large centre of the rice trade of the district,
and an important river port. There are several local services of steamers, and
the Mandalay steamers of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company call at Henzada. It
has also railway connection with Rangoon, and is the terminus of the branch
railway to Bassein and Kyangin. The town is well laid out, and. possesses good
roads and buildings, but, owing to its situation below the flood level of the
Irrawaddy, drainage is poor, aped it is not so healthy as it should be. It contains
a block of court-houses, an excellent municipal office, a fine forest office, a
treasury, a police-station and a police training depot, a Public Works
Department inspection bungalow, a large rest-house, a circuit-house, a tele-
214 HENZADA DISTRICT
graph office, a post office, a district jail, a good hospital, a fine bazaar and a
railway station. There is no civil station, the houses of the Europeans being
scattered over the town. There is also a Government High School, and many
excellent indigenous schools. The American Baptist Mission maintains two
Anglo-Vernacular Schools, one for Karens and one for Burmans. A feature of
the town is the excellent recreation ground which has been transformed within
the last two years chiefly by the efforts of Captain Beadon, I.A., once
Subdivisional Officer, from a useless swamp into a fine stretch of turf. Of late
years the town has suffered very seriously from erosion by the river Irrawaddy.
A large portion of the town has already fallen into the river, and it is feared that
the bazaar will soon follow. Several buildings and shrines have been removed
to new sites on this account.
The town has figured very little in history, and possesses few buildings of
any archaeological importance; such as there are have been mentioned in
Chapter II. There are numerous fine pagodas, monasteries, images and shrines
of modern construction. The most important monastery is the Ledisayadaw, a
fine collection of brick and wooden buildings and shrines on the west of the
town inside the main bund.
There is a small bund close to the riverbank to protect the town from
flooding, and the greater part of the town is situated between this and the main
bund, which is about 5 or 6 furlongs further inland. The town is now growing
rapidly on the inside of the main bund around the railway station and rest-
house, and, if the erosion of the Irrawaddy continues at its present rapid rate,
the whole town will soon have to be moved inside the main bund.
The inhabitants are nearly all paddy traders and shop keepers, the latter of
course being indirectly connected with the paddy trade. The trade in the
products of the river islands, such as tobacco, peas, etc., is insignificant in
comparison. Factory industries are in their infancy; there are two small rice
mills, one oil mill and one ice factory. As far as handicrafts are concerned the
town has some reputation for wood carving and drum making. The old industry
of weaving has practically died out. The town is one of the oldest
municipalities in Burma, the municipality having been founded in 1874. An
account of Municipal Administration will be found in Chapter XI.
HENZADA DISTRICT 215
Year. Population.
1863 9,177
1871 15,307
1881 16,724
1891 19,762
1901 24,756
1911 25,052
The population of the town by sex and religion at the census of 1911 is
given on page 35 of Volume B.
The local legend of the rounding of Henzada is that when King Namani
Seithu was floating down the Irrawaddy on the raft, he came upon a shoal in
the river, and pitched his camp opposite the shoal. A pair of geese had their
home on the shoal, and during the time the king halted the gander died. The
female goose "mourned for" ("ta") her husband, and so the king called the
place "Hintha-da."
Danbi.
built a pagoda, now known as the Shweyaungbya pagoda (see Chapter II). The
inhabitants are traders and cultivators. The village lies on the main road from
Henzada to Myanaung.
Ingabo.
Letpanhla.
Myogwin.
Natmaw.
Neikban.
Payagon.
Ongon.
Shage.
Seiktha.
Seiktha is a village situated on the southern bank of the old channel of the
Ngawun river, almost at the point where it joins the Irrawaddy. The
inhabitants, who number 1,592, are cultivators of rice and miscellaneous crops.
There is a Public Works Department inspection bungalow on the main bund,
not far from the village.
Tantabin.
Taloktaw
Thingandaw.
Yegwin.
Yonthalin.
Zalun Township.
That part of the township on the east of the Irrawaddy is, in spite of village
embankments, subject to severe inunda-tions, and the crops are dependent on
the severity of the floods, and are consequently uncertain. The people in this
part of the district are poor. Badly inundated lands and the islands in the
Irrawaddy River are cultivated with miscellaneous crops.
The area of the township is 288 square miles, and its population at the last
two censuses was-
1901 69,502
1911 77,378
The large majority of the inhabitants are Burmans, but Karens are to be
found scattered all over the township, particularly in the southern part. An
account of the principal towns and villages in the township follows,
Zalun.
During the last fifty years the old town has suffered greatly from constant
erosion by the river Irrawaddy, and more than half of it has fallen into the
river. The bazaar had to be removed to a new site as early as the year 1879.
The old town is yearly flooded by the river, and consequently contains no good
buildings or roads, and is generally in a bad sanitary condition. The
Government offices were removed to a new site inside the main bund and a
new town was laid out in 1912. The old town is rapidly being deserted in
favour of the new site.
The town was made a notified area in 1882, and was a municipality from
1885 to 1913, when the municipality was abolished. There is now no form of
self government, but the District Cess Fund employs both a day and a night
conservancy staff for the town. An account of the old Municipal administration
will be found in Chapter XI.
Year. Population.
1871 5,105
1881 5,120
1891 6,006
1901 6,642
1911 6,155
Apyauk.
Apyauk is a large village on the east bank of the Irrawaddy, about 16 miles
south of Zalun. Its population is 2,630, amongst whom are a few Hindus,
Mahomedans and Chinamen, who are petty traders and coolies. The large
majority of the inhabitants are Burmans who are cultivators and fishermen.
The village is the centre of the paddy trade for the part of the Henzada District
which is on the east of the Irrawaddy. There are a small pagoda and five brick
monasteries. The village contains a district bungalow. The village is an old
Talaing village which was famous for ngapi (fish-paste) and its name is a
corruption of the Talaing Aparauk which means" ngapi-port." There is a daily
service of launches of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company between Henzada and
Apyauk.
Daunggyi.
The town contains a pagoda which is said to have been built by Thanbula,
daughter of the Talaing king of Tanyin. There is a Public Works Department
inspection bungalow at Daunggyi, and a District Cess Fund bazaar, and a post
office. A small staff of coolies is maintained by the District Cess Fund for day
conservancy. It is a place of call for the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company's local
launches.
Obo.
Mayoka.
Mayoka is a small village of about 200 inhabitants on the west bank of the
Irrawaddy, 3 miles south of Zalun. It is notorious as the centre of the abortive
rising of 1912 (see page 283
Pyinmagon.
Zinyawkyun.
Tonbutkyun.
Lernyethna Township.
The township is divided by the Ngawun river. That part of the township
which is to the south of the Ngawun is protected by the main embankment, and
is part of the Henzada plain. The land is all given over to rice cultivation, and
is fertile, but is gradually deteriorating through continuous cropping. Holdings
are large, and the people in this part of the township are prosperous. Nearly all
the inhabitants are Burmans, but Karens are fairly numerous.
near the river is precarious, and the land is poor. There are a few fertile valleys
situated amongst the foothills. The foothills and the main range are covered
with dense forest growth and constitute the Lemyethna Forest Reserve. Most
of the land outside the reserves is cultivated with rice, but heavily flooded
lands along the river are cultivated with miscellaneous crops, and among the
foothills there are numerous hilt clearings. The majority of the inhabitants are
Burmans. Talaings are still to be found along the north bank of the Ngawun
and numerous Chins dwell amongst the foothills. No Karens are to be found
north of the Ngawun. The inhabitants north of the Ngawun are extremely poor.
The total area of the township is 226 square miles and its population at the
last two censuses was-
1901 60,314
1911 64,242
Lemyethna.
It was the refuge of the Governor of Bassein when he fled from the British
in the first Burmese war of 1826. It was then a larger and more prosperous
town than it is now.
Year. Population.
1871 5,331
1881 5,355
1891 5,614
1901 5,813
1911 5,372.
These figures show that the condition of the town is one of stagnation. The
large majority of the population are Burmans with the usual sprinkling of
Mahomedans, Hindus and Chinese. The inhabitants are cultivators and petty
traders.
Lemyethna was originally a Talaing town, and one of the last Talaing
Governors, by name Banyadala, built a pagoda and surrounded the town with a
square moat. After the destruction of the Talaing kingdom by Alaung-pays the
town reverted to jungle. About fifty years later the Burmese pehnin of Paing-
usun resolved to move his headquarters and chose the site of Lemyethna.
When the site was cleared, Banyadala's pagoda and moat were found. Hence
the new town obtained its name ("four-faced "). This rounding of the town
occurred in B.E. 1127. or 150 years ago. Banyadala's pagoda was restored by
the pehnin Thamanda, and is still in existence.
Aingthabyu.
Bokchaung.
Daunggyi.
Kamauksu
Ketkugyi.
Konbyin.
Konbyin is a village on the Kyaukchaung river about seven miles from the
Ngawun river. It is famous for the pagoda built there by princess Ummadandi.
The inhabitants number 747 and are cultivators. The village contains a police
station and a district bungalow.
Kyaukchaung.
Lahagyi.
Lahagyi is a village of about 1,100 inhabitants about 3 miles from the east
bank of the Ngawun on the borders of Lahagyi lake. The inhabitants emprise
Burmans, Talaings, and Karens, and are cultivators.
Pandawgyi.
very old Talaing village, and is said to have been rounded by princess
Ummadandi. It contains two pagodas the Pandawgyi and the Nandaw U. Local
legend has it that the former was built by princess Ummadandi.
Shanywa.
Shanywa is a village on the east bank of the Ngawun about a mile below
Aingthabyu. The inhabitants, numbering about 1,100, are Shans and Talaings.
They are all cultivators. As its name implies, the village was originally
founded by Shans.
Thakutchaung
Theingon
Yatha.
Yatha is a village on the west bank of the Ngawun, about three miles above
the Kyaukchaung river. The popu lation is about 1,000 and consists of
Burmans, Talaings and Karens. They are all cultivators.
Ywathitgyi.
Myanaung Subdivision.
Myanaung Township.
Myanaung Township is the central of the three townships comp arising the
Myanaung Township. The eastern and western boundaries are formed by the
HENZADA DISTRICT 227
Irrawaddy River and the Arakan mountains respectively, and coincide with the
district boundary. On the north, the township boundary leaves the Irrawaddy at
the mouth of the Patashin stream and follows the course of the latter westwards
for about six miles. It then turns south for about six miles, and then again west,
and so, by an irregular line in a westerly direction, until the ridge of the Arakan
mountains is reached. On the south the boundary leaves the Irrawaddy River
near Ogwe about two miles north of the extremity of the Irrawaddy
embankment; it follows an irregular course, first west for about six miles, and
then north about six miles, and then, turning west again, it crosses the Mamya
stream twice, and continues in a westerly direction until it meets the Kanyin
stream, about six miles west of the railway. It then follows the course of the
Kanyin stream until the hills are reached, and thence continues in a westerly
direction, north of the steam, to the ridge of the Arakan hills. Originally it
comprised two townships, the Myanaung and Kaanaung Townships, formed to
correspond to the old Burmese myos. The two townships were amalgamated to
form one, the Kanaung Township, in 1894. In 1912 the headquarters of the
township were moved from Kanaung to Myanaung and it was renamed the
Myanaung Township.
are also poor. The whole of the cultivated Ares of the township is densely
populated.
1901 92,365
1911 106,943
Myanaung.
Lunse was first captured by Alaungpaya in 1752, but he was then recalled
by the insurrection of the Talaings, which resulted in the temporary occupation
of Ava by them. The rebellion at Lunse was easily suppressed and the town
retaken in 1754, and to commemorate the event Alaung pays renamed the town
Myanaung ("speedy victory") A temporary palace and a stockade were built,
and the remains of the latter are still to be seen.
The town was very prosperous in Burmese times. It was visited by Colonel
Symes when on his visit to Ava at the end of the eighteenth century. He
describes the town as an exceedingly busy river port, and the centre of a large
rice-growing area. He states that at Myanaung the king kept granaries, the
grain stored in which was used to relieve famines which occurred in Upper
Burma, and remarks upon its "air of venerable grandeur" with its stately trees,
gilded pagodas and spacious monasteries. It was governed by a myowun who
remitted a revenue of 20 viss of silver to the capital.
It was taken by the British in 1852 without resistance, and was made a part
of the Tharrawaw District, an Assistant Commissioner in charge of the
Myanaung subdivision.
HENZADA DISTRICT 229
The town was made a notified area in 1882, and has been a Municipality
since 1886. An account of the Municipal administration will be found in
Chapter XI. It contains subdivisional, township and magisterial court-houses, a
police office, a municipal office, a jail, a hospital, a police station, a post and
telegraph office, a circuit-house, a Public Works Department inspection
bungalow, a forest office, an excellent bazaar, a Government Anglo-vernacular
school, an American Baptist Mission Anglo-vernacular, and several indigenous
schools, besides officers' quarters. There are numerous fine shops and other
buildings in the town. There are two recreation grounds, one attached to the
Government school, and one on the southern part of the town, which has been
acquired but has not yet been laid out. The town is situated on a sandy rising
ground well above the level of the Irrawaddy, and is fortunate in possessing
fair natural drainage. The existing system of unbricked roadside drains is
efficient all the year round. The conservancy staff of the Municipality is
sufficient, and the sanitary needs of the town are well looked after.
The town has suffered greatly from erosion by the Irrawaddy river. Most of
the old town, save in the south, has disappeared into the river; the Public
Works Department bungalow had to be moved back about 100 yards about ten
years ago, and is now once again very near the bank: the old Deputy
Commissioner's court-house and the barracks of the Pegu Light Infantry have
disappeared into the river. It is hoped that a sandbank which has formed in
front of the town within the last few years will arrest the erosion. The circuit-
house was formerly the building occupied by the original Government cess
school. It had
230 HENZADA DISTRICT
to be taken down to prevent its falling into the river, and the materials were
afterwards used to construct the present circuit-house. The police office was
originally the magazine of the Pegu Light Infantry, and the subdivisional
officer's house is the old circuit-house.
The town was of considerable .importance in the early years of British rule,
but suffered a relapse when the head quarters of the district were removed to
Henzada, as is shown by the fact that in 1863 the population was estimated at
7,129 while at the census of 1871 it was returned as 5,636. From the latter year
the town was stagnant until about 1900, but has recovered its prosperity of
recent years, and at the census of 1911 the population was returned as 8,331.
During the last three or four years, several fine brick buildings have been
erected, and the price of land in the centre of the town has doubled itself. It is a
large centre of distribution for the interior, and owes its recent prosperity to the
development of the Burman's desires for European products.
At the census of 1911 over 7,000 of the population were Burmans. The
remainder, except for a very few Karens, Anglo-Indians and Europeans, were
made up of 157 Chinese, 346 Hindus and 675 Mahomedans. The Chinese are
nearly all traders, the Hindus are composed of policemen, coolies and money-
enders. Nearly all the Mahomedans are petty traders. The Burmans on the
outskirts of the town are cultivators and boatmen. The town Burmans are
principally concerned in the paddy trade. The industries of the town are of
minor importance-there are one saw-mill and two small rice mills for local
consumption, a drug factory and a small printing press.
HENZADA DISTRICT 231
The following table shows the population of the town at the successive
censuses:-
Year. Population.
1871 5,636
1881 5,416
1891 5,489
1901 6,351
1911 8,331
Alezu.
Alezu is a large fishing village, situated on the east bank of the Htu lake,
about four miles from Inbin railway station. The population is made up as
follows:- Burmans 2,218, Indians 10, Karens 21.
Banbwegon.
Inbin.
Kanaung.
Kanaung is a town † situated on the right bank of the Irrawaddy about six
miles south of Myanaung. The town was founded by Alaungpaya in 1755,
although its name is Talaing, meaning "Whirlpool" was visited by Colonel
Symes when on his visit to Ava, and he describes the surrounding country as
thickly populated. In Burmese times it was one of four towns which were
under a myowun who lived at Kyangin. It was the scene of a smart attack on a
British squadron ascending the river in 1852, and the remains of the old
Burmese fort are still to be seen.
Under the British it was the headquarters of a township until 1912. The
town has always been overshadowed by Myanaung ahd has never progressed.
In 1869 its population was estimated as 3,015, whereas at the census of 1911 it
was given as 2,272. The inhabitants are Burmans, with a few Indians and
Chinese. They are cultivators and petty traders.
Kanyinngu
Kywedegon.
Letpangwin.
Mezin.
Ngapiseik.
Nyaungwungyi
Ngabatkya.
Petakwe.
Petakwe is a village situated on the right bank of the Irrawaddy, five miles
below Shwegyin. Its inhabitants, numbering 1,132, are all Burmans, and are
nearly all cultivators of miscellaneous crops.
Pyindaungdwin
Shwegyin.
Sinlu.
Tanthonbin.
Thabyegon.
Thabyegon is a large village situated about two miles distant from the West
bank of the Irrawaddy, and about 20 miles below Myanaung. The inhabitants,
all Burroans, with a very few Indians and Chinmen, number 2,013, and are
cultivators and traders. The village contains a District Cess Fund bazaar and a
police station.
Yozaung.
Kyangin Township
westwards the Burmans become fewer and the Chins more and more
numerous. The inhabitants of the foothills are principally Chins. The area of
the township is 208 square miles. The population at the two last censuses was-
1901 46,633
1911 50,329
Kyangin.
The town contains the usual township offices, a police station, a Public
Works Department inspection bungalow, a bazaar, a hospital, a post and
telegraph office and a Roman Catholic Anglo-Vernacular School for Chins, as
well as several indigenous schools. There are six pagodas and several
monasteries in the town, but none of them are of any archaeological
importance. It is a terminus of the Henzada-Kyangin railway, and is connected
by a metalled road with Petye, eight miles distant, and this road is continued as
an unmetalled road to Lema, at the foot of the Arakan hills. A railway has also
been surveyed from Kyangin to Petye.
236 HENZADA DISTRICT
The town progressed marvelously in the early days of British rule; in 1864 its
population was given as 5,423 and at the census of 1871 it was returned as
8,477. The large increase of population was due to immigration from Upper
Burma, and the rapid opening up of the surrounding country. Since about 1870
the town has been stationary.
Year. Population.
1871 8,477
1881 7,565
1891 8,116
1901 7,183
1911 8,386
Pauktaing.
Petye
Petye is a very old village, situated on the Patashin stream eight miles west
of Kyaagin. It is connected by road with Kyangin and a railway has been
surveyed. It was originally called "Hngetgyi ", owing to the feverish nature of
the neighbourhood. The population of the village is 2,411, nearly all Burmans.
Petye is the centre of distribution for the Chin country lying further west, and
many of the inhabitants are traders. The village contains a district bungalow
and a police station, also a small rice mill and a saw-mill.
Posugyi.
Posugyi is a small village situated on the Padaw stream at the foot of the
Arakan hills. It is notable for the coal seam which exists near the village. The
inhabitants originally practiced sericulture, but this industry is now dead. There
is a forest bungalow at Posugyi.
HENZADA DISTRICT 237
Seiktha.
Seiktha is a village situated on the west bank of the Irrawaddy, outside the
embankment about seven miles north of Kyangin. The inhabitants cultivate
rice and miscellaneous crops. The village itself is smal, but the village-tract
contains 1,333 inhabitants, principally Burmans. There is a police outpost in
the village.
Yenandaung.
Ingabu Township.
The majority of the inhabitants are Burmans but the area in the Myanaung
Township occupied by Karens is continued into this township as far south as
Zaungdan, while amongst the hills numerous Chins are to be found. The area
of the town. ship is 880 square miles. Its population at the last two censuses
was-
1901 84,046
1911 93,260
Ingabu.
in 1901, and the conservancy of the town is carried out by District Cess Fund
coolies. The town contains myook's and magistrate's court-houses, a police
station, a post and telegraph office, a hospital, a bazaar, a district bungalow and
a Public Works Department inspection bungalow. It is also a forest revenue
station.
Mention has been made of the Shwesandaw pagoda; besides this pagoda
the town contains several fine monasteries and shrines, The Okpo sayadaw
(abbot) U Okkantha who has recently died, was once the most famous monk in
Burma. It is said that a quarrel between the sayadaw and his disciple U Kin
was responsible for the formation of the two Buddhist sects, Kan and Dwia.
There are an American Baptist Mission Anglo-Vernacular school at Ingabu
and also several indigenous vernacular schools. The population of the town at
the last census (19 11) was given as 2,656. During Burmese times, and until
about 50 years ago, the population was almost wholly Talaing, with a few
Burmans, the followers of the myothugyi; now Talaings are quite
unrepresented in the town. The large majority of the inhabitants are Burmans,
but there are about 120 Shahs, 100 Indians and 160 Chinamen. The inhabitants
are principally traders and coolies. Until a few years ago the Kanyin stream
was navigable for launches as far as Ingabu, and there was a very considerable
traffic of boats and launches on it. Within the last six years the stream has been
badly silted up from its tributary the Wetthe and now cargo boats and tugs can
only ascend it during the rains. The Kanyin stream is still the medium of
considerable traffic in paddy during the rains, but now Ingabu depends upon
the railway for its prosperity. It is the centre of distribution for the southern
part of the township.
Bwet.
Chaukywa.
Htugyi.
Hlegyiaing.
Kongyi.
Kwingauk.
Kywezin.
Kywezin is a village sitauted amongst the Arakan foot hills on the Kanyin
stream. Near the village there is an out crop of coal which was worked by
Government with convict labour in the years 1881-83.
Mezaligon.
about 100 Indians and Chinese. The inhabitants are traders, cultivators and
coolies. There is a large unfinished pagoda of recent construction in the
village. It also contains a railway station, a police station and a district
bungalow.
Mataungda.
Nyaunggyo.
Naukmi.
Thanbya daing.
Payangokto.
Peinnegwin.
Sitkyungyi.
Tanbingan.
Yele.
Yele is an agricultural village on the east bank of the Kanyin stream, about
three miles below Hlegyiaing. There is a police station in the village.
Zaungdan.
Peafowl Daung.
Jungle fowl Taw kyet.
Silver pheasant Yit.
Peacock pheasant Daung-kala.
* Francolin …
Arakan Hill Partridge …
Quail Ngon.
Rain quail …
Hemipods …
Snipe (3 kinds) Usually arrive at
the end of
August.
Woodcock …
Imperial pigeons (2 Yonpadi.
# kinds). …
Green pigeons (6 kinds) …
Bronze wing …
Wood pigeons (2 kinds) …
Doves Gyo.
Nukta …
Cotton teal
Greater whistling teal Not imgratory.
Lesser whistling teal …
$ Spot-bill Migrates April.
Common teal … Arrives Nov-
Blue wing teal … ember—de-
Brahmany … parts March.
Water hen …
Jungle crow …
House crow Kyigan.
Magpes (3 kinds) …
Tragons (2 kinds) …
Burmese Jay …
Minas (6 kinds) …
@
Babblers (2 kinds) …
Thrushes …
Bulbuls Pokwa.
Tits …
Byas …
Warblers …
Weaver bird …
Tailor bird …
APPENDICS 247
Nut hatch …
Tree creepers …
Drongos …
Shrikes …
Minivets Hngetmintha.
Circles …
Flycatchers …
Magpie Robin …
Shama …
Sparrows (3 kinds) Sa.
Munias …
Swallows Pyan-hlwa.
Wagtails …
Plovers (2 kinds) …
Sky larks …
Sun-birds …
Woodpeckers Thittauk.
Barbers …
Rollers …
Coppersmith bird Thitpadein.
King fisher Pain-nyin.
Greater Hornbill Yaunggyin.
Lesser Hornbill Aukkyin.
Hoopoos …
Trogons Htoktate.
Pittas Mye yaung.
Cuckoo U-aw.
Parrakeet Kyet-tu-ywe Several kinds.
Screech owl Hngetso.
Lesser eared owl Zigwet.
Eagles …
Falcons Thein gyo Six or seven
Hawks Thein-daung-u-hnauk varieties.
Vultures Linda.
Goat sucker Mye wut.
Paddy bird Byaing.
Byaing auk.
Kites Sun.
Thein kya.
APPENDIX II.
Common or
Natural order. Specific name. Burmese name.
Common or
Natural order. Specific name. Burmese name.
Common or
Natural order. Specific name. Burmese name.
APPENDIX III.
APPENDIX IV.
A. Non-official publications.
C. Official publications.
C.-Offcial publications-concld.
D.-Books in Burmese.
Maha Yazawin.
Talaing Chronicles.
Alaungpaya Ayedawbon.
INDEX.
PAGE.
Aingchaung
Aingthabyu
Akauktaung
Alaungpaya
Alegyun
Alezu
Allantaung
Alluvium
Alon
America
Anaukpet
Andamans
Apyauk
Archæology
Asia
Ava
Banbhwe
Banbwegon
Bandula
Banyadala
Bassein
Bay of Bengal
Bengal
Bigandet
Bodawkani
Bodawpaya
Brahminy
Burma
Bwet
Cape Breton
Chaukywa
Chittagong
Cox
Crosthwaite
254 INDEX.
PAGE.
Daga
Dalla
Danaw
Danbi
Danubyu
Daunggyi
Delta
Donwun
Duya
Dwe Yazadarit
Eikpyet
England
Europe
Ferrars
Fytche
Gaudama
Geology
Gnapeezeik
Godwin
Gospel
Gwa
Hanthawaddy
Henzada
Hlaing stream
Hlegyiaing
INDEX 255
PAGE.
H-concld.
Hlemauk
Hlezeik
Hnegyo
Hngetpyawgyin
Hpagyidaw
Htu lake
Htugyi
Innin
India
Igabo
Ingabu
Inlat
Insein
Inyagyi
Irrawaddy
Irrawaddy Flotilla Company
Kama
Kamauksu
Kanaung
Kanaungghe
Kanaunglay
Kangon
Kanyinngu
Kanyin
Ketkugyi
Kiangian
King Edward VII
King Namani Seithu
Kodut
Kokko
Konbyin
Kongyi
256 INDEX.
PAGE.
K-concld.
Kothaung
Kroninseik (Kyaungseik)
Kun
Kungyangon
Kwingauk
Kwingyaing
Kyaik-eng-ga
Kyaik-tha-tha-byaung
Kyangin
Kyaukchaung
Kyaukni
Kyedangyi
Kyibin
Kyunpulu
Kyun-U
Kywedegon
Kywethaung
Kywezin
Lahadamya
Lahagyi
Lemyethna
Letpadan
Letpanhla
Letpangwin
Loonsay
Lower Burma
Lower Chindwin
Luce
Lunse
Madras
Maha Bandula
INDEX 257
PAGE.
M-concld.
Maha Yszawin
Mamya
Manchester
Mandalay
Manoo
Martaban
Mataungda
Ma-ubin
Mayangon
Mayin
Mayoka
Medawpaya
Meimma-so pagoda
Meyahaun .(Myanaung)
Mezaligon
Mezin
Minbu
Mindon Min
Moksobo
Mrobaung
Myanaung
Myatyabin
Myaungmya
Myenu
Myinwadaung
Myitkyo
Myintwa
Myodaung
Myogwin
Nandala
Natmaw
Naukmi
Negrais
Neikban
Ne Myu Noarata
258 INDEX.
PAGE.
N-concld.
Ngabatkya Nangathu
Nga-myet-hna pagoda
Ngapiseik
Ngathainggyaung
Ngawun
Nova Scotia
Nyaungbintha
Nyaunggyo
Nyaungwungyi
Nyein-E
Obo
Okpo
Ongon
Padaw
Pagan
Paing-usun
Pakôkku
Pandaung
Pandawgyi
Pannya
Pasheen
Patashin
Pauktaing
Pauktainggale
Pawthit Island
Payagon
Payagwin
payangoto
Pegu
Peguan record
Pegu Light Infantry
INDEX 259
PAGE.
P-concld.
Peinnegwin
Petakwe
Petye
Phayre
Posugyi
Phelps
Prome
Pyapon
Pyayezu
Pyedawbyan
Pyindaungdwin
Pyinmagon
Rangoon
Rathemyo
Roman Catholic
Sababontaung
Sagagyi
Sagaing
Sam-udda-ghosa
Sanchaung
Sandoway
Sanlun
Sanmyaung
Seiktha
Seingyi
Shage
Shan States
Shanywa
Shwaye Gaim (Shwegyin)
Shway Yo (Scott)
Shwebo
Shwebontha pagoda
260 INDEX.
PAGE.
S-concld.
Shwegyin
Shwenaing
Shwe-pyaung-pyaung pagoda
Shwesandaw
Shweyaungbya
Siam
Sindagigon
Sinlu
Sitkyungyi
Sittang
Songon
Suez Canal
Sydney
Symes
Talaban
Talokmaw
Taloktaw
Tanbingan
Tantabin
Tanyin (Syriam)
Tanthonbin
Tapwun
Tarokmyo
Tatywa
Tavoy
Tazaunggyi
Tegyigon
Tenasserim
Tetkyat
Thabyegon
Thadukyaung
Thakutchaung
Tharrawaddy
Tharrawaw
INDEX 261
PAGE.
T-concld.
Thaton
Thamaing
Thamudda-ghosa
Thanbyadaing
Thayetmyaung
Thayetmyo
Thebyu
Theingon
Thida
Thidapaya
Thingandaw
Thongwa
Thonze
Tonbutkyun
Toungoo
Triassic
Tsaga
Tu Lake
Udo
Ummadandi
U Paye pagoda
Upper Burma
Wadaw kwin
Wayan chaung
Yathuya
Yegwin
Yegyaw
Yegyi
Yele
262 INDEX.
PAGE.
Y-concld.
Yenauk
Yenandaung
Yin-E
Yoma
Yonthalin
Yozaung
Ywatha
Ywathit
Ywathitgyi
Zalun
Zaungdan
Zinbyun
Zinbyungon
Zinyawkyun